Bills

Bills first-round CB Maxwell Hairston publicly addressed his legal situation for the first time at training camp. Hairston is being sued in civil court by a woman who says he sexually assaulted her during their freshman year at Kentucky in 2021. She filed a police report at the time and the university did an investigation but no charges were filed. Hairston continued his career and the woman left the university. 

“This is something I’ve been dealing with since I was 17,” Hairston said via ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg. “It’s been four years now, and I went through this whole process with the police. They went through a thorough investigation, and I was exonerated from that.

“The University of Kentucky did a thorough investigation. I was exonerated from that, as well. And I volunteered to do multiple polygraphs ’cause I was determined to get my truth out there, because I had nothing to hide. I was an open book. I have two sisters that I love dearly, and I respect all females, and I was just determined to get my truth out there. Like I said, I was an open book, and I was exonerated from both of those and just got to stay strong. But I’m confident that my truth will be out there.”

The Bills were well aware of the situation when they drafted Hairston and Bills GM Brandon Beane has backed him publicly at every turn as well. Beane alluded to a somewhat similar situation a few years ago with former P Matt Araiza, who the team released shortly after drafting him once sexual assault allegations became public. 

“It’s frustrating. I think I reiterated that after the draft, it’s frustrating because in the legal world you can’t sit there and say things back and forth. You got to let it go,” Beane said. “But this happened to this young man over four years ago. He gave up his phone to prove some of … he took a polygraph test. This kid didn’t run from anything. He answered every single thing. We did that.

“We have to remember in society that people can make accusations and do things, and I have no idea what the agenda is there, but I can tell you every stone we turned over, every door we looked behind, this is a very good young man. A young man you would let in your house, you would let watch your kids, hang out with whoever, like he is genuinely a good person. He’s got sisters, he’s got a mother, he’s got a great family, raised the right way. I’ve met his parents. I’ve met his close family.”

“I would feel terrible if someone said that about one of my sons, and I think we need to remember in the world, like, sometimes these guys, and I’m not going to get into it, but we see these accusations, sometimes these guys can be victims too,” Beane continued. “They make a lot of money, and I just want to make sure, nobody, rarely do people defend them, and that’s hard for me in this seat sometimes because I’ve seen it. We’ve had it here with a player here a few years ago that’s no longer here that was wrongly accused. And it’s frustrating, and everyone should … anyone that’s met Maxwell Hairston genuinely knows what a great young man is.”

Dolphins

The Dolphins moved CB Jalen Ramsey to the Steelers, creating speculation that Miami may sign a veteran option, having since been connected to free agents Rasul Douglas and Asante Samuel Jr. Miami HC Mike McDaniel said they aren’t closing the door on anyone, but he has confidence in their current group. 

“Are we resisting getting better? We are not resisting getting better,” McDaniel said, via the team’s YouTube. “The key part of any roster acquisition is getting better. I understand completely there’s a lot of tweets, words, articles for people that care about the Dolphins about a position. It will never change — if you have youth at a position that’s developing and you’re developing it and you have confidence in it, you’re going to have confidence in it before the people that haven’t seen it do. We’re confident in the group. That being said, we’re not closing the door for anything. There’s multiple players we talk about each and every day. We’re also very excited with some guys that have a lot to prove and know that and are excited about the opportunity.”

Over the weekend, the Dolphins signed both CBs Jack Jones and Mike Hilton to the roster to compete for roles. 

Patriots

• ESPN’s Mike Reiss notes that in a portion of practice where the Patriots split up into first-team and second-team groups, WRs Stefon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas were with the first group while third-round WR Kyle Williams, veteran WR Kendrick Bourne and UDFA WR Efton Chism were with the second. 
• Reiss adds veteran WR Mack Hollins also likely figures into the first group once he’s off the PUP list, while last year’s rookie WRs, Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, are not on the current radar. Reiss mentions Polk experienced some muscle tightness after passing his initial physical and has not been practicing. 
• Those nine are the main competitors for what Reiss expects will be just six, maybe seven roster spots. Bourne addressed the competition: “I think the cards are going to play out how the cards are going to play out. I don’t have any predictions. I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do, and the room needs to have that mindset.”
• Williams has been one of the standouts and drew praise from QB Drake Maye after beating top CB Christian Gonzalez on one rep: “He’s coming along. He’s looking good. … It’s good for a rookie to make a play like that, and I think he is just going to get better and better.”

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