In their regular-season finale, the Buffalo Bills did all they could to manage the roster’s health heading into the postseason. Most starters got some much-needed rest, but not every starter was fortunate enough to get the time off against the New York Jets.
One such example was first-round rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston, who injured his ankle late in the contest. Bills fans had hoped that Hairston would be good to go in next week’s playoff test against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but, unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Head coach Sean McDermott told reporters on Monday afternoon that Hairston is “unlikely to play” against the Jags in the Wild Card round.
Sean McDermott acknowledges the difficult reality at cornerback with Maxwell Hairston's ankle injury
While it's frustrating that a key player was potentially lost for a playoff game in a meaningless Week 18 game, McDermott’s hands were understandably tied at cornerback. While Christian Benford got to sit, Tre White also played nearly the entire game at cornerback as those two and Hairston were the only active boundary corners on the roster.
McDermott explained why the Bills had to play Hairston on Monday, chalking it up to gameday roster construction on the front end of the defense and availability in the cornerback room from the practice squad.
“You want to be able to protect everyone in a game like yesterday, unfortunately, you’re not able to, right?” McDermott said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get Dane [Jackson] up, Dane was out of ups anyway, at that point, so we would have had to cut somebody to bring up another corner. So, unfortunately, we were a little landlocked there.”
McDermott admitted that playing someone other than a regular corner at the position was something the team considered against the Jets, but naturally, that’s a situation best avoided if possible.
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Without Hairston, the Bills will have to hope that Benford and White remain healthy in the Wild Card round. There’s no one on the active roster behind them to fill in naturally out wide, let alone to the same level of play. It’s not as though Darius Slay is going to suddenly report to Buffalo to save the day, in either regard.
As the Bills prepare for the Jaguars, the secondary must be ready to absorb the loss of Hairston if he is indeed out this Sunday. The Jags’ passing game opened up into one of the most dominant units in the league after adding Jakobi Meyers at the trade deadline, and Trevor Lawrence looks poised to take the next step in his NFL maturation, too.