Bills' Maxwell Hairston: Cleared to make NFL debut

Hairston (knee) is active for Sunday's game against the Panthers.

The rookie first-rounder started the season on injured reserve after sustaining a knee injury during training camp in late July. Hairston was limited in practice all week, but he was activated off IR on Saturday and has been cleared to play in Week 8 after going through pregame warmups. Given that Sunday will be his NFL debut, Hairston could be limited to a special-teams role while providing depth in the secondary behind cornerbacks Tre'Davious White, Christian Benford and Taron Johnson.