ORCHARD PARK – One of the players who has received ample criticism this season, safety Taylor Rapp, is headed to injured reserve due to a knee injury, Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott revealed Friday morning.
“It came up in training camp and he was dealing with it since then and it got to the point where he can’t be himself,” McDermott said. “We’re making the decision right now from the medical people’s opinions to put him on IR.”
Rapp has struggled mightily this season, and perhaps some of that has been due to the injury. However, he has played almost the entirety of all six games. Now that he’s on IR, joining backup safety Damar Hamlin who went on IR before the Oct. 13 Atlanta game, Rapp will be out at least four weeks.
Who will replace Taylor Rapp on Buffalo Bills roster?
Jordan Poyer took Hamlin’s place in the Falcons game, but now the Bills will most likely sign Poyer off the practice squad to the 53-man roster and he will probably start Sunday against the Carolina Panthers alongside Cole Bishop. As for the fourth safety, the Bills have Cam Lewis.
Joshua Palmer, DaQuan Jones ruled out for Panthers game
As expected, McDermott ruled out defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (calf) and wide receiver Joshua Palmer (ankle). Jones and Palmer were both hurt Oct. 13 in the Atlanta game, but they have not been placed on injured reserve, one would assume because the training staff thinks they could get back within the four-week timeframe.
Linebackers Matt Milano (pectoral) and Terrel Bernard (ankle), and tight end Dalton Kincaid (oblique), have all been limited in practice this week and McDermott said they will be questionable for the Panthers. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel (ribs) returned in full to practice Friday and will be able to play.
Parctice window opens for Maxwell Hairston
As for rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston, his 21-day practice window opened this week and the Bills have to activate him to the 53-man roster before that expires. If they don’t, then he has to go on season-ending injured reserve.
When that will happen remains a mystery because even though he practiced all week, he’s not ready to play in a game after missing nearly three months of practice with his knee injury. He was officially listed as questionable for Sunday.
Hairston expressed plenty of confidence regarding his situation when he spoke on Wednesday.
“It felt good, man, just being able to thud again, to wear pads, put a helmet on, and to just go out there and play,” he said. “It’s almost like learning how to ride a bike, bro. It’s just exciting whenever that happens. And I’m just glad that I’m back out here.”
Hairston was hurt on July 29 at St. John Fisher University in a non-contact training camp drill, but it was known soon thereafter that he avoided the dreaded ACL tear and his return at some point was expected.
“Honestly, when I found out what the injury really was, I was just happy that it wasn’t like an ACL or something surgical,” he said. “So when I found out that it was something that could be healed without surgery, I didn’t complain. I just kind of took it to the chin and just looked at it as a blessing in disguise.”
Given the struggles of aging starting cornerback Tre’Davious White, the Bills really need Hairston to not only get back on the active roster, but be able to step in and play competently which is obviously asking a lot given all the time he has missed.
McDermott has said right along that fans and media should be managing expectations because while he’s probably physically up to playing, it’s the mental part, knowing where he’s supposed to be and what his role is on each call, that will be the toughest challenge.
“He’s done some good things,” McDermott said of Hairston’s return to practice. “Just managing the expectations. You take it one day at a time, there’s a lot that is new for him with all the time he missed. He didn’t have much ramp up in training camp so you want to make sure we’re understanding of that. It looked like this week he was trying to understand his job.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 36 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
