Max Hairston Injury Update
Max Hairston’s start to Buffalo Bills camp took a gut punch no one wanted. Practice was rolling, the energy was decent, then boom—Hairston went down right in the middle of DB drills. Non-contact, which just puts that immediate pit in your gut. You wanna hope for something minor, but everyone knows: those are the injuries that tend to get serious in the NFL.
Players and trainers quickly circled him, which always makes it worse. It looked like his right knee got tweaked, and he spent a good bit on the turf before finally standing up and limping with a trainer. Guys like Christian Benford and Tre’Davious White—normally cool under pressure—were visibly shook. Benford was honest after: “I was salty, I was upset… That’s somebody who’s a pure-hearted kid.
That’s someone you work with off the field so much and you put so much time in with them, and then they fall like that. Something is happening to him; you never want that to happen. You don’t even pray that on your worst enemies. I'm sick about that.”
If you flipped open your phone during that moment, Twitter and IG both erupted. Jon Scott on X reported, “#Bills 1st round pick Max Hairston leaves practice with apparent leg injury. Walked slowly off field with arm around trainer’s shoulder”.
Trainers kept checking his right knee, not the left, which puts to rest some offseason chatter about a hammy that bothered him early summer.
There’s also a short clip posted by Carl Jones—him limping off, nothing dramatic, just that classic NFL scene you hate to see.
Just “getting checked out.” Typical. The room felt heavy—defensive backs even took a moment to circle up and pray for Maxwell. It says a lot. First-round picks are supposed to be plug-and-play, but sometimes bad luck just bites early. There’s a cautious optimism hoping this is one of those one-to-two week things, not a year-ender, but no hard answers yet as MRI results are still pending.
The odd thing is that Hairston’s been dealing with injuries before. Missed games last fall at Kentucky, and still fought back to earn Second Team All-SEC, snag five picks, and become the first defensive back in school history drafted in the opening round. Bills fans already love the chip on his shoulder—and he's kind of earned it.
So, now everyone’s stuck hitting refresh on their social feeds. Maxwell posted this on Instagram after camp: “Appreciate the love. I’ll be alright. Just gotta wait for the docs.” Not much detail, but… hey, at least he’s trying to keep everyone calm. The hope’s a short absence, nothing more. Bills are no strangers to injury drama, but man, this one stings.
Transitioning to the draft side for a sec—this is a guy the Bills grabbed at No.30 overall for a reason. Not a perfect prospect, but maybe the most dangerous ballhawk in this rookie group. At Kentucky, he was a scorer from defense, nearly breaking records on pick-sixes, and just plays with a kind of anticipation you can’t teach. It’s the physicality, the nose for the football—just old-school grit. But as we’re seeing, he’s gotta show the NFL body can make it through a full pro grind.
It’s a rough break for Max and Buffalo, especially when expectations are real. He’s got a whole lot of talent—but now, gotta hope that knee checks out and the wait isn’t too long. That’s just how this league goes: hype can vanish, and then suddenly the name trending is now your rehab updates. Let’s hope Hairston’s next post is a practice jersey, not a hospital selfie.
