Bills’ Maxwell Hairston injury & teammates’ reaction & Joey Bosa flashing (Day 6 camp observations)

Pittsford, N.Y. — The entire group of Buffalo Bills defensive backs knew something was wrong as soon as rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston went down during practice on Tuesday at St. John Fisher University.

“Hate to see it, especially something non-contact,” Bills cornerback Dane Jackson said.

Hairston was going through the usual drills that the defensive backs do every practice. Jackson said that it was just a little “freak trip up” and Hairston went down in a lot of pain. Bills head athletic trainer Nate Breske immediately attended to the injured 21-year-old as teammates gathered.

“We said a prayer for him and we (tried to) uplift him,” Jackson said. “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.”

Breske performed a test on Hairston before he was able to stand on his own. He limped off the practice field with some occasional stability help from Breske as he made his way to the medical tent.

“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.”

The severity of the injury is unknown. The Bills have dealt with a wave of injuries to start camp. Fifteen players (including Hairston) weren’t available on Tuesday. That doesn’t include safety Cole Bishop, who went into the medical tent at one point but did return to the field. Running back Ty Johnson also suffered an injury when it looked like a defensive player rolled up on his ankle.

Hairston’s situation is the most concerning because of the potential long-term ramifications for the cornerback room if it’s an injury that’ll keep him out of the lineup for an extended period. Keep it locked on Syracuse.com for updates on the injury.

Here are more observations from Tuesday’s practice.

Joey Bosa is starting to flash

It’s been a quiet training camp for Bills free agent addition Joey Bosa. The 30-year-old pass rusher has had a few off days and hasn’t made a ton of big plays through the first week of camp. But on the second day in pads, Bosa looked the part of a top-tier pass rusher.

Bosa had one rep against left tackle Dion Dawkins in the 1-on-1 period of o-line vs. d-line. Dawkins won the first part of the rep, but Bosa went into his bag of tricks and used great hand placement to swim to an inside move to get into the backfield.

Then, during 11-on-11, Bosa beat Dawkins again on a terrific speed rush to the inside. He landed with a sack on Josh Allen, who still tried to push the ball down the field with a pass to Khalil Shakir. Cornerback Taron Johnson was in coverage and broke it up.

The defense was the better unit during a day built mostly on third-down reps. Matt Milano, who had a big hit on Monday, turned in another big day when he picked off Allen early in the practice on a pass intended for Dalton Kincaid.

Tre’Davious White steps up

With Hairston out of the mix for the day, White took all the snaps at CB2. The injury to Hairston is a perfect illustration of why White’s return loomed large even after the Bills spent a first-round pick on the Kentucky cornerback.

White’s most impressive rep of the day came in coverage against receiver Josh Palmer. The new Bills receiver has been making noise since the start of camp with his precise route running and nose for the ball. He ran another great route late in practice, and Allen floated up a pass for him with Taylor Rapp lurking deep down the field. White ran step for step with Palmer down the left sideline and easily broke up the pass to take away the explosive play.

UDFA receiver making the most of his chance

Stephen Gosnell is one of the few receivers still standing, as five (Kaden Prather, Tyrell Shavers, Curtis Samuel, K.J. Hamler, and Elijah Moore) missed practice. Gosnell has been showing his skills since the pads came on and made another big play on a deep ball from Allen. White was the closest defender who had a shot to affect the pass but Gosnell used his speed to run away from the coverage.

Forgotten DB makes a big play

It’s been a while since I wrote an observation about former sixth-round pick Daequan Hardy. But the Penn State product intercepted Mike White on Tuesday to help remind coaches of the playmaking ability he had at the college level. Hardy was supposed to be the team’s punt returner last year, but general manager Brandon Beane traded for Brandon Codrington right before the start of the season. Hardy is behind Taron Johnson, Ja’Marcus Ingram, and Cam Lewis at slot cornerback, but finding a way to make big plays can help propel him back into some conversations.

Jacob Bayer getting noticed

The most impressive lineman during 1-on-1s early in practice was undrafted free agent center Jacob Bayer. It didn’t matter who he matched up against; no defensive rusher could move him off his mark. He stood up against 6-foot-7, 331-pound Deone Walker and then shut down two more defensive tackles, including Zion Logue. Backup center Sedrick Van Pran Granger and utility o-linemen Alec Anderson didn’t practice on Tuesday, giving Bayer plenty of reps during team drills.