transplantbillsfan

I doubt Buffalo is still above 80% vaccinated after cutting the roster. We were around 80%, according to Beane, when we had 93 on the roster. On a whole I'd put money on our rate dropping significantly after cutdowns since the fringe players might have viewed getting the shot as a potential reason for McBeane to keep them on the 53 man roster.

Can I blame you if we lose the opener?

As of this moment, teams that are 100% vaccinated (I know of the Falcons and Bucs at the moment) have eliminated all or most of the "silly NFL protocols" related to Covid for the upcoming season

How is it simplistic? There's a bunch of stuff in there I hadn't heard before or didn't know. Did you know Allen’s gotten hit 219 times in games since entering the league? Did you know Mahomes wasn't sacked in preseason? Did you know the Bills blitzed the 8th most in the NFL last season and had the 23rd most hurries on the QB? Did you know that Allen’s completion percentage was actually higher on the road than at home last year? I think some of you just hate the idea that our low vaccination rate could legitimately hurt the team and so you resort to silly ad hominem attacks of an established and credible sports journalist.

If Beasley or Gabe Davis or Star or Milano or any combination of them or other important players (I don't think it'll be Josh... I'd bet he got the shot at this point) misses the Super Bowl or a playoff game, I'll do someone else a favor and fall on the sword and take your title of "douche" and bump this thread

Personal beliefs aside, if Bills vs Bucs were to miraculously be the Super Bowl matchup this year, during the 2 week media fiasco that is the lead-up to that game, the entire coaching staff would have an extra thing to worry about, monitor and talk to the team about--probably multiple times. That's of course if Buffalo still has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the NFL, which they currently do. That's a competitive disadvantage.

https://theathletic.com/2805597/2021/09/03/graham-these-are-the-bills-biggest-hurdles-to-reaching-the-super-bowl-in-2021?source=user-shared-article 1. COVID-19 Buffalo’s locker room became the place to fly your anti-vaccination flag this offseason. Two weeks before opening what’s supposed to be a vision-quest season, some Bills starters were barred from the facility for five days a pop and fined for their COVID-19 impudence. McDermott remained diplomatic at his next news conference. He measured his words carefully. His body language, however, belonged to that of a man who was about to flip the eff out. “Very frustrating. Very frustrating,” McDermott said. “There’s people’s livelihoods at stake. … Our performance is judged off of wins and losses or how well a person does ‘X’ or ‘Y,’ and some of that is dependent upon other members of the team. “That’s why this is a team game. Being able to count on people is important.” Unvaccinated players create negative competitive consequences. Restrictions are eased for those who have been vaccinated. Unvaccinated players still are subject to quarantine through contact tracing. Even after Dawkins revealed he’d spent four days at Buffalo General Hospital and that he was afraid the coronavirus was killing him and two days after receivers Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis and defensive tackles Star Lotulelei and Vernon Butler were sent home, Beasley and receiver Isaiah McKenzie publicly mocked the collectively bargained safety protocols. The NFL had fined McKenzie and Beasley $14,650 for repeatedly refusing to wear masks and/or tracking devices inside the Bills’ facility. NFL Network reported Beasley was spotted on video, while McKenzie failed to comply in the presence of league officials who were at One Bills Drive to give a presentation on COVID protocols. McKenzie tweeted a photo of his NFL notice and joked about the fine. The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest data estimates the average Erie County resident makes $33,598 a year. McKenzie, at least, had an epiphany. He eventually posted a photo of his vaccination card. Beasley is telling those around him he never will get a shot under any circumstances. Lotulelei’s decision not to get vaccinated is a noggin-scratcher. Lotulelei took the COVID opt-out last season, and while the Bills could have used him against the run at times, they also proved they could win a lot of games without him. Linebackers Matt Milano and Klein were preemptively removed from practice, an indication that they, too, were not vaccinated. The NFL’s investigation determined Milano and Klein weren’t in close-contact jeopardy and could return to practice the next day. Beane said last week the Bills’ vaccination rate might be below 80 percent. That was before the 53-man cutdown, which was expected to lower the Bills’ percentage because fringe players are more motivated to get the shots. Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians announced Thursday that his defending Super Bowl champions are 100 percent vaccinated, including all players, coaches and staff.

Hollister??? Really???

Too bad these guys aren't even considering the J & J vaccine. Heck if any of these guys went out today after our game against the Packers and got the J & J shot they'd be fully vaccinated by the time we kick off against Pittsburgh.

Annnnnnnd Allen’s done for the day. Way to whet the palette! Is it September 12th yet?

I could see Beasley retiring. We know that Star isn't vaccinated... I don't know his reasons, but since he sat out last year I could also see him retiring. The only other players I think we know for sure aren't vaccinated are Davis and Butler. I don't think we'd miss Butler much, unless it was BOTH him and Star retiring. Kinda doubt Davis would retire considering he's a 4th round draft pick making very little money who will be due a big contract in a couple years. Don't know for sure, but I know Milano had to leave the facility for a day, but I thought I heard he was actually vaccinated. If he chose to retire that would obviously hurt. We've heard from Edmunds that he'd rather not talk about his status. Again, if he's unvaccinated, he's also due a big contract coming up momentarily. I've posted my reasoning for why I think Allen is already vaccinated. If the vaccine were mandated and he doesn't have it I just think he'd get it just because of how much he loves football. Rookies and UDFAs to me are all the more likely to have gotten vaccinated just because of their new status in the league and generally tenuous status on the team. So.... I could absolutely see Cole and Star retiring if the vaccine were mandated. I don't really think we lose anyone else. Just my own speculation.

NPR has a podcast called "Throughline" that talks about this. The episode is "On the Shoulders of Giants." It talks about 3 athletes who were essentially precursors to Kaep. The first was the boxer Jack Johnson in the early 1900s. The 2nd was a black femail sprinter in the 1960s. And the 3rd was Abdul-Rauf in the 90s. It's an interesting listen if you have time. I really enjoy listening to that particular podcast as a whole just because of the way it presents interesting parts of history through stories. But no... Kaep wasn't the first.

All vaccination/political discussion aside... if the NFL and NFLPA Allowed the vaccination mandate, it doesn't seem like anyone could argue against the fact that it would lift at least one very real weight of worry we have with this team this year. The only potential negative result I would see is Beasley following through on his threat to retire.

I'm just glad there are still 2 1/2 weeks before we kickoff against Pittsburgh. A lot of these issues could resolve themselves between now and then.

I have a question: I came into a thread entitled "McD's Presser" and expected to read direct quotes via tweets as to what he was saying. Instead I don't really know what was said about the presser and I'm reading speculation and opinions about what was said as it relates to Buffalo. I just thought the new policy here at TBD is that that is not allowed. Is that still the case or was it a one day thing? Sorry... but I just don't want to jump in a boat with a bunch of people violating CoC and get kicked out of the boat because I was the last one in. Oh..... and can someone please post quotes from the presser, too?

9 days ago the Falcons said they were the first team with 100% of its players vaccinated. My guess is there will be more teams like that. Those teams will not see their vaccination numbers go down unless they trade for or sign an unvaccinated player. Those teams will almost certainly go through fewer headaches this season as it relates to Covid.

Are you saying that anyone arguing unvaccinated players could end up costing this team critical wins is a serious concern for this team this year is wrong?

To your last point... I understand what you're saying, but I could see a legitimate reason for Allen to be vaccinated and say "I'm going to keep that private." Obviously purely speculative, but his buddy Cole Beasley is maybe the most outspoken unvaccinated player in the league. His other buddy Stefon Diggs is vaccinated and relatively outspoken about getting the shot. Allen at one point chose not to get vaccinated and the perception at least was that he was "anti-vaxx" and was there for somehow in Beasley's boat... so to speak. If Allen chose to get vaccinated (for any number of reasons, but it really wouldn't surprise me if McDermott and Beane had a good long conversation with him over the Summer as they were working on his contract about how important it was for him to get vaccinated for the sake of availability on the team) I think he would clearly also still identify with players like Cole. Saying "I'm going to keep that private" means you're not taking sides in a locker room that's apparently (according to the OP) one of the 4 most divided locker rooms in the league in terms of vaccination stances.

Here's the thing... if that's really what they're waiting for and now have, those players will still be at risk of falling victim to Covid protocols all the way up to the beginning of October. Even if they get the first shot of Pfizer today, it will be 3 weeks before they get their 2nd shot and 2 more weeks before they're considered fully vaccinated. Any player who wants to quickly rid themselves of the restrictions at this point should be looking at the one shot J & J shot... in which case they'd be fully vaccinated before the season opener.

It depends on who the players are. If there are 90 people on the roster and we're at 80%... that means something like 17ish players are unvaccinated. If those players are mostly players we're going to cut in final cutdowns it doesn't much matter. But if those players are all guys on the 53, that becomes 32% of our team being unvaccinated and could have a serious impact.

I will second The Dark Tower series. It really is just an amazing fantasy series. And I'm not even done with it. I'm just finishing Wolves of the Calla (Book #5)

Oh... big time yay. Start Hughes & Groot. Obada, Epenesa, Boogie, Johnson as depth.... seriously? DE depth is damn good and we save something like $3 million off the CAP if we cut him.

Reports from camp have been that McKenzie has been waaAAAAaaayyy ahead of the other returners in terms of ball security.

The problem is we can't just easily choose who goes on the PS. We have to cut down to 53... meaning cut all the guys you hope to get on the PS. Other teams can claim those players for 24 hours. Once they clear that 24 hours, it's their choice where they want to sign. I don't care if either Webb or Fromme gets signed. I prefer Webb, but I am fine with Fromme on the PS. I'm more worried about keeping certain players like Stevenson or Hodgins as the team clearly likes them but they just aren't there yet.