Getty

Head coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills needed some help for their secondary as the playoffs begin, so they turned to a familiar face whose father also spent time in Buffalo.

The Bills on Tuesday signed rookie defensive back Daryl Porter Jr., KPRC reporter Aaron Wilson noted in a post on X. Porter first signed with the Bills as an undrafted free agent in May, competing for a spot in the secondary before injuries forced the team to part ways with him.

Porter will now provide some much-needed depth after an injury to rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston, which is expected to keep him out of the wild-card round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Daryl Porter Jr. Will Provide Important Depth

With Hairston out of the lineup for Sunday’s game, the Bills are expected to call up veteran Dane Jackson from the practice squad, with Porter providing more depth.

Porter played one game for the Steelers this season before being released on Dec. 29.

Porter has a connection to the Bills. His father, Daryl Porter Sr., came into the NFL as a sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1997, joining the Bills the next season and spending four seasons with the Bills. He appeared in 34 games during that time, making one interception and recovering two fumbles, including one he returned for a touchdown.

He will join the practice squad with another second-generation Bills player, running back Frank Gore Jr. His father played for the Bills in 2019, the second season of Josh Allen’s career and the last time the Bills reached the playoffs as a wild card before their five-year run of AFC East titles.

Bills Dealing With Injury Setbacks for Playoff Game

The Bills are expected to start veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White opposite Christian Benford for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars, with Jackson as the reserve. Hairston had been splitting time with White as the boundary cornerback and his absence will leave the Bills without one of their fastest players on defense.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott faced some criticism for leaving Hairston in late during the team’s 35-8 win over the New York Jets on Sunday, but McDermott explained that the team simply lacked the depth to allow all of their regulars to sit during garbage time.

“You want to be able to protect everyone in a game like yesterday,” McDermott said, via Syracuse.com. “We normally have four corners on the roster, (but) about a month and a half ago, we went down to three.”

McDermott added that the Bills were forced to turn to their practice squad to make up for other injuries, leaving them unable to bring up an extra cornerback.

“Looking at the practice squad, because of the ups we needed to have, we went to a linebacker position first, losing (Terrel Bernard) in the Eagles game,” McDermott said. “And so with that, we felt like we needed an extra linebacker to go into the game. And then with the defensive ends, getting Joey (Bosa) some rest, getting Greg (Rousseau) some rest. Got (Matthew) Judon up so that we had three (ends).

“So unfortunately, weren’t able to get Dane up. Dane was out of ups anyway at that point, so we would have to cut somebody to bring up another corner. So unfortunately, we’re a little landlocked there. Would have loved to have been able to rotate somebody, but that’s that’s where we’re at right now.”

Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty