ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Maxwell Hairston is getting ready for a new season with a new jersey number. The Buffalo Bills starting cornerback made the change days before the 2026 regular season began, switching from No. 31 to No. 1.
“I'm Uno, the chosen one, and I stand by that,” Hairston said. “You know, that's just me getting back into the number I've always had.”
Hairston, a first-round pick in 2025 from Kentucky, wore No. 1 the year he was drafted. When he got to Buffalo, he chose No. 31, the number he wore at Kentucky before No. 1 became available.
“Well, for me, it’s knowing that, you know, I'm the chosen one,” Hairston reiterated. “Knowing that, you know, I'm Uno, knowing that it comes with confidence to know that you know you're number one, and you know I wear this with pride.”
Hairston battled a groin injury this summer but returned after the Bills' first preseason game. He played in the final two preseason games and had some up-and-down moments. After a bad missed tackle that led to a touchdown against the Steelers in the preseason finale, head coach Joe Brady was asked about his confidence in Hairston.
“He’s our starting corner,“ Brady said on August 28th. “He’s exactly what we look for in a corner… he’s our guy.”
Hairston also needs to prove he can stay healthy. In his rookie season, he was sidelined with several injuries and played in just 11 games. That’s been a focus for him this summer, despite the setbacks.
“You know, more just coming into the season healthy,” Hairston said. “That was really my biggest thing in this offseason: build armor on my body, put on, you know, good weight, muscle to be able to kind of, you know, take what comes in this league and, you know, just, just blessed for the opportunity.”
What remains to be seen is how much Hairston will play when the season begins. Just because he’s starting doesn’t mean he’ll play every snap. The Bills drafted Davison Igbinosun in the second round of the 2026 draft and believe he has a different skill set than Hairston. Defensive Coordinator Jim Leonhard was asked about the idea of the two players rotating on Thursday and didn’t rule it out.
“To me, it's more guys earning the right to not come off the field as opposed to earning the right to be on the field sometimes, right?” Leonhard said. “There's a flow element to a game, and there's a rhythm and a timing, and some guys, you don't wanna disrupt that. Other guys, it's good to go a couple of series, take a step back.”
"Just do my job. I mean, it's the NFL. Everybody's a professional at their position," rookie cornerback Davison Igbinosun said about how can make his presence felt. "Everybody's, is doing what they need to do, just do my job, not gonna do anything out of body, just gonna do what I've been doing."
Hairston is going to play, and he’s going to play a lot. He’s clearly confident he can be a difference maker, and if the Bills defense is going to take a step forward, they need him to play like the guy they chose in the first round.
