Tag: Cole Beasley

Bills at Patriots: 3 keys to a Buffalo win

#Bills at #Patriots: 3 keys to a Buffalo win:

The Buffalo Bills are coming into Foxborough energized from a win last week against the Carolina Panthers that saw an electric performance on offense and an on-brand defensive effort.

Buffalo played with a competitive fire they’ll need to win out the final few games of the regular season and make the playoffs.

At home against Carolina, the Bills looked a lot more like the team that won four straight games early in the season, and less like the one that had lost their two previous outings.

One of those contests was against none other than this week’s opponent, their AFC rival New England Patriots.

With Josh Allen and company dialed into what they need to do in order to charge into the postseason, and with the Patriots standing in their way, the matchup has even greater implications.

So with the AFC East title up for grabs, here are three keys to a win for the Bills (8-6) against the Patriots (9-5):

Bills at Patriots: 7 things to watch for during Week 16’s game

#Bills at #Patriots: 7 things to watch for during Week 16’s game:

The Buffalo Bills will look to regain some ground in their Week 16 game. All the way back to the top of the AFC East, potentially.

The Bills (8-6) visit the New England Patriots (9-5) following a 31-14 rout of the Carolina Panthers.

With that, here are seven things to watch for during Week 16’s Bills-Patriots matchup:

Bills focused on Patriots, not Cole Beasley or any possible distractions

The #Bills won’t let anything distract them from beating the #Patriots:

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The Buffalo Bills are no stranger to distractions due to COVID-19. Some places in the NFL are getting their first taste of it in the past few weeks due to cases rises.

However, the latest one the Bills (8-6) have comes in a familiar form: Cole Beasley.

On Tuesday, Beasley, the most outspoken player in the league regarding vaccine mandates for players, tested positive for COVID-19. He is well known to be unvaccinated so he’s out 10 days by rule.

That means he will not play against the New England Patriots and Beasley already fired off a statement challenging the NFL’s rules toward unvaccinated players.

Beasley’s comments aren’t anything he’ll have to answer for right away. Rather, it’ll be his team… such as Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott and quarterback Josh Allen.

Via video conference on Wednesday, the coach assured fans that he’s not worrying about the Beasley situation right now. It’s all about the Pats (9-5).

“I’m not going to get into that,” McDermott said. “I’m focused on the Patriots, and the guys in the building. And certainly with all the guys we have out on COVID, I think seven, Cole being one of those… we want them back as healthy as possible and as quickly as possible. That’s where we’re at.”

Allen went on to somewhat defend Beasley in an interesting manner. He said even if Beasley was vaccinated, Allen would still have assumed he would not be able to play on Sunday.

Perhaps Allen was providing some thought based on some past experiences.

The Bills have had multiple players land on the COVID list so far this season, and there’s likely a chance that multiple of them were players who were vaccinated and tested positive on a Monday or Tuesday but still did not play the ensuing Sunday… exactly like Beasley, essentially.

But the QB also echoed what McDermott said. Whether or not Beasley’s situation came up, no distractions can be allowed to take their eye of the prize: First place in the AFC East, which is what is on the line in New England.

“With all the distractions that could be distractions, we’ve just got to make sure we’re talking to each other and leaning on each other and not letting little things become big things,” Allen said via video conference. “Go out and try to execute and win a game Sunday against a really good opponent. It’s gonna take all of us.”

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What Bills WR Cole Beasley said about positive COVID-19 test

What #Bills WR Cole Beasley said about positive COVID-19 test:

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley was placed on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list. The team announced that roster transaction on Tuesday.

From there, any observer of the Bills (8-6) knew it would only be a matter of time before we heard from Beasley.

It has happened.

Beasley, 31, has been the most outspoken NFL player about the vaccine since the league rolled out rules relating to player safety and its use. He has been know to be unvaccinated.

Since he is unvaxxed, he will not be allowed to play in Week 16 against the New England Patriots (9-5). Via a social media post on his Instagram account, Beasley wrote the following message.

Included in it is this statement: “Just to be clear, COVID is not keeping me out of this game. The rules are.”

Here is the full message:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXw5UNQLvoe/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=700e239e-fa5f-40ec-b6c5-8686d3f69415

Previously in Beasley’s words, he is not anti-vaccine. Rather, he says he is “pro choice.” But there are no NFL rules regarding players that consider themselves to be that.

League rules involve vaccinated and unvaccinated players.

Unvaxxed players are immediately out for 10 days after testing positive. That’s it, there are no other rules.

Vaccinated players have a possibility of returning sooner with a negative test result. But this does not pertain to Beasley and because of that, he will not play in Buffalo’s most important game of the season.

In August, Beasley landed on the COVID list as well due to a close contact tracing,

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Bills place Cole Beasley on COVID list, who is now likely out vs. Patriots

#Bills place Cole Beasley on COVID list, & barring a huge change of heart, he is now likely out vs. the #Patriots. Details:

The Buffalo Bills will most likely be without wide receiver Cole Beasley in the team’s biggest game of the season.

On Tuesday, the team announced that Beasley has been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Unless Beasley has had some massive change of heart which has gone unannounced, he will not play in Week 16 against the New England Patriots.

Beasley has undoubtedly been the most outspoken player in the NFL regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. In his words, he is “pro choice” but there are no NFL rules regarding players that consider themselves to be that.

League rules regarding the virus pertain to vaccinated and unvaccinated players. In Beasley’s case, who is nearly guaranteed to not be vaccinated as he has indicated in the past, will now not play on Sunday.

Unvaxxed players are immediately out for 10 days after testing positive, according to NFL rules. That’s it.

Vaccincated players have a possibility of returning sooner with a negative test result. But as referenced, Beasley likely remains status quo, meaning he’s all but considered out against the Patriots.

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LOOK: Video of Dawson Knox, injured Bills players during practice

A couple of looks at some injured #Bills players at practice this week ahead of Sunday’s #Jaguars meeting:

The Buffalo Bills have had some names on their injury report that were expected this week. Others, a surprise.

Among the one we knew were coming: tight end Dawson Knox and offensive lineman Spencer Brown.

Knox has a broken hand and is expected to miss a few games because of it. Brown, a rookie, was listed on the injury report coming out of the bye week.

Brown has a back injury and did not play vs the Miami Dolphins in Week 8. Can he go this week? So far, he hasn’t practiced, but isn’t ruled out like Knox for Buffalo’s upcoming game vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars.

On the other end of the spectrum is wide receiver Cole Beasley. He was dinged up vs. the Dolphins and has a rib injury.

Beasley was a big impact maker in last week’s game, so his name comes to us as a surprise.

Considering a couple their statuses for Sunday and the coming weeks ahead are up in the air, here’s a look at those three in practice this week via Spectrum News:

Worth noting, these videos do not contain offensive lineman Jon Feliciano. Considered a “week-to-week” injury on Monday via Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott, he’s unlikely to play vs. the Jaguars.

Feliciano was injured late in Buffalo’s last game.

According to The Athletic on Thursday, Feliciano was not practicing.

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Sean McDermott gives his biggest takeaway from Bills’ win over Dolphins

Dion Dawkins gave another classic take as well:

The Buffalo Bills… didn’t exactly look like the Bills against the Miami Dolphins.

In Week 8, the Bills (5-2) did pull away and beat the Dolphins (1-7), 26-11, but it was not smooth sailing.

Buffalo struggled early. So much so that the two teams were tied at the halftime, 3-3.

But as the score indicates, things turned around for the Bills and that was what stood out to Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott. His team turned it around.

“That’s the biggest takeaway from this game. You’re not going to always come out and score, score score, in games,” McDermott said via video conference. “This game, like most games in the NFL, came down to the fourth quarter. I thought that was good for us as a team.”

Leading the turnaround for the Bills offense was quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Cole Beasley.

The playmaker led Buffalo with 10 catches and 110 yards. Those were both team highs.

Allen only had 80 yards passing at the half. He ended the game with 249, and had 55 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

“We went into halftime, you could tell that we weren’t happy,” Allen admitted. “We found a spot where we could get in groove in the second half.”

After reflecting, Beasley took a bit of a look at the long term. He said the Bills will improve because of the way the game went.

“You don’t wanna have games like this, but I think you need them to grow,” he said.

Naturally, the best analysis from the halftime adjustments came from offensive lineman Dion Dawkins.

To his credit, the O-line was amongst the improvements in the second half for Buffalo. That group had an ugly first half, but the later stages saw less pressure on Allen in the pocket.

Dawkins put it into a candid view.

“Playing [in the second half] with a little more energy, passion, and just showing that we’re not lax. Honestly, we call this having our piss hot. Playing with that energy,” Dawkins said.

Hot piss it was, Dion…

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Bills vs. Dolphins: 3 keys to a Buffalo win

#Bills vs. #Dolphins: 3 keys to a Buffalo win:

Unlike last season, the Bills won’t have to wait until the last game of their schedule for their annual rematch with the Miami Dolphins.

That second bout will come this Sunday in Orchard Park after the Bills shut them out 35-0 in their second scheduled contest to start the year.

Here are three keys to the game for the Bills (4-2) against the Dolphins (1-6) for another Buffalo victory:

PFF: Bills’ Josh Allen ranks among top QBs under pressure

PFF: #Bills’ Josh Allen ranks among top QBs under pressure:

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The Buffalo Bills offense has taken off since surrounding franchise quarterback Josh Allen with weapons and expanding his employment of Brian Daboll’s playbook. 

The young QB’s dedication to his offseason development and work with the teams’ coaching staff has led to a big forward progression in 2020 that has continued thus far in the Bills 2021 campaign.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, is Monday Night Football touchdown totals are now the most of any QB ever in their first two starts. Only Hall of Famers Dan Marino (10) and Joe Montana (9) have thrown more over their first three MNF appearances.

While that is some legendary company, the quarterback presently finds himself in a class on his own as well.

According to Pro Football Focus, Allen now sits atop the league in several categories:

Next Gen Stats projected Allen favorably during the offseason as one of the NFL’s best deep-ball throwers while ranking him the eighth-best quarterback in the league while under pressure.

This was a big leap forward considering PFF had him ranked as one of the worse deep-ball passers in the league as recently as May of 2020. Later that year and once the season started, Allen got to work proving that wasn’t the case.

As the Bills QB has continued his development this season he’s shot up to the top of that pressure category while also putting up career deep ball numbers. 

The Bills offense’s overall performance now has PFF ranking them among the best in the league.

Though the season is still young and there is still room for improvement, if he keeps this pace Allen might once more find himself in MVP consideration by season’s end.

If his past remarks and press conferences offer any indication, however, he’ll be happier if by that time he finds the Bills in a position to compete for a championship in the Super Bowl.

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