Eagles

Cole Beasley Sent Home from Bills Practice

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Aug 24th, 2021 · 11:06 AM EDT

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Truly, this is not some pro-vax/anti-vax post. Y’all can argue about it in the Facebook comments if you want.

But I want to share this because it’s interesting and gives us a better understanding of how COVID cases are going to be handled by the NFL this season:

Bills’ WR Cole Beasley was sent home from the team’s training facility for the next five days after being a close contact of a trainer who tested positive, as @PLeonardNYDN reported.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 24, 2021

Beasley is the poster child for the “personal choice” crowd. He explained his reasoning for not getting the COVID vaccine in a lengthy statement read to reporters at the beginning of training camp.

Pat Leonard at the New York Daily News explained what’s happening in this way:

Per a source, Cole Beasley & Gabriel Davis passed this morning’s COVID test (came back negative) but have been removed from facility & must undergo 5-day reentry process as close contacts to a member of team’s training staff who tested positive for #COVID19

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This underscores two sides of the coin:

1. If players were vaccinated, they wouldn’t have to be out for 5 days

But 2. A vaccinated player/staff can still test positive for #COVID19, which can contribute to outbreak or spread in a building that could compromise a game #Bills

And so we get into an argument about whether or not the NFL rules are fair, which is a sidebar topic that doesn’t really matter. The bottom line is that this is the framework the league has set up this year, and if Beasley was vaccinated, he wouldn’t have to miss an entire week of training camp. It’s easier to get back on the field and clear protocols if you do get the vaccine, which health officials say  provides for less severe symptoms if you end up testing positive as a “breakthrough” case.

Like it or not, Beasley is going to get this kind of focus because he’s been vocal about the vaccine. People will pay attention to his season as a case study of sorts for unvaccinated players. And the bottom line is that he’s coming off a damn good year and is a damn good player on a damn good team, so he’s more in the spotlight than some crappy slot receiver on a crappy team.