Phew! Maxwell Hairston avoids major knee injury at Buffalo Bills training camp

maxwell-hairston-avoids-major-knee-injury-buffalo-bills-training-camp — Bills rookie defensive back Maxwell Hairston heads towards the field during the opening day of Buffalo Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University Wednesday, July 23, 2025 in Pittsford - © Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

That breeze you just felt wasn’t the cold front arriving in the Bluegrass. It was our collective exhale when the news broke that Maxwell Hairston‘s injury at Buffalo Bills training camp isn’t as bad as originally feared.

Yesterday, the former Kentucky defensive back turned Bills first-round draft pick went down with a no-contact knee injury during drills, a “freak trip up,” as his teammate Dane Jackson described it. He was able to stand on his own and limp off the field, at times with assistance. His teammates — and the Big Blue Nation — feared the worst, but according to Ian Rapoport, Hairston’s ACL is just fine. He suffered an LCL sprain and could return to practice in as few as three weeks, welcomed news for the rookie, whom the Bills selected No. 30 in the NFL Draft in April.

“We said a prayer for him and we (tried to) uplift him,” Jackson said yesterday, per Matt Parrino. “Hope to see him when we get in here and find out everything that’s going on with him and (hope for) a speedy recovery for him too. He’s been doing a great job at camp as well.”

“I was upset,” Bills cornerback Christian Benford said. “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. … I’m sick about that.”

Hairston has already been turning heads at camp, nearly intercepting a pass on day one. His teammates’ comments suggest he’s already won the locker room over with his personality, too. That’s no surprise to anyone who followed Hairston at Kentucky or simply watched the NFL Draft. Hairston became the unofficial hype man in the green room, congratulating every player taken before him until he finally heard his name called with pick No. 30.

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@nfloncbs
Can’t help but feel good for Maxwell Hairston 🥹 #nfldraft #nfl #wholesome
♬ original sound – Skate Midwest 3mo

Mad Max making plays on day one. 🔒@Ticketmaster | @MHairston22 pic.twitter.com/dX8FQMTHf8
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) July 23, 2025

Hairston is the first defensive back to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft in Kentucky Football history. Over three seasons as a Wildcat, he totaled 89 career tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, with one sack, and added 10 pass breakups, six interceptions, and three forced fumbles. Three of his six interceptions were pick-sixes, which tied the school record for most career interceptions returned for touchdowns. He joins fellow former Cats Ray Davis and Deone Walker — also drafted by the Bills in April — in Buffalo.

Now, it’s time for Hairston to take it easy. We may get a closer look at yesterday’s scary moment during HBO’s Hard Knocks, which is following the Bills during training camp. The first episode airs on August 5 at 9 p.m. on HBO Max.