ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo Bills cornerback rookie Maxwell Hariston first went on Injured Reserve at the start of the season, and head coach Sean McDermott told reporters Wednesday that the timeline for a possible return is still unclear.
"He's working, that's what I can tell you, he's working and moving in the right direction. We'll see, I don't know how many weeks it'll be," McDermott said. "So right now, it's, I think lowering expectations and managing them and just taking it one day at a time and seeing when and if he can come back."
Hairston's time recovering also brings up some concerns about how well he knows this defense and the confidence he and his coaching staff would have in him to go out and perform. McDermott reiterated that lowering those expectations on him will be beneficial for his return, whenever that may be.
"You do the best you can. It's up to the player to do what he can, and Max has done a good job of that for the most part. Again, like anything else, there's a lot of unknowns and that's where we're at."
Going off of McDermott's praise for how the rookie corner has dealt with this early adversity, teammates like Taron Johnson have been especially proud of Hairston's attitude every day while working to get back on the field.
"He comes to work every day with a smile on his face, and that's something I've noticed every day," Johnson said. "That energy and him not being down, even when he first got hurt, he wasn't down. He's always engaged and trying to get better when he's on the field."
So while a timeline for a possible return seems murky for Hairston, at least the rookie is taking it in a way that has everyone optimistic about what he could still bring to the team this year.
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