Cole Beasley doesn’t care about catches: ‘I’d rather not be involved and win’

#Bills WR Cole Beasley doesn’t care about catches: ‘I’d rather not be involved and win’

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbw1j59gmjw5gdj player_id=none image=https://billswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Over the past few weeks, it’s been the perfect storm for Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley to be a topic of discussion.

In Weeks 4 and 5, Beasley combined for three catches and 21 yards. His volume of targets in those two games combined was only four, when in Week 3, he had 13.

In the midst of that downtick, Beasley made his presence felt on social media, once again in relation to his feelings toward the COVID-19 vaccine. It ended with him deleting his account on Twitter.

Throughout that whole debate on the slot receiver, the Bills still backed him. Both Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott and quarterback Josh Allen said they were confident in him.

“He’s a huge piece of our offense,” Allen said last week.

Turns out, they were right. Despite the Week 6 loss to the Tennessee Titans, 34-31, the Bills went back to him. Beasley had seven catches for 88 yards and a score. He nearly found the end zone twice as well.

But following the defeat, Beasley wasn’t doing any victory laps for himself.

Instead, Beasley said he’d give back all his targets and catches for a win.

“You never really know how the game is going to go, I knew there was going to be a chance [he would get targets],” Beasley said via video conference. “I was glad to be involved, but I’d rather not be involved and win rather than be involved and lose.”

Last week, McDermott said Beasley’s usage the past two games was “game plan related” and nothing more.

Regardless, the Bills (4-2) were right in at least one sense.

Beasley could still be counted on and deliver, which he did despite the loss.

[lawrence-related id=90331,90314,90287]

Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ loss to the Titans

Stock up, stock down following the #Bills’ loss to the #Titans:

The Buffalo Bills fell in heartbreaking fashion against the Tennessee Titans, 34-31, on Monday. Following that loss and now heading into the bye week, here is Bills Wire’s Week 6 stock report:

Sean McDermott on Bills’ failed final play: ‘I’ll take Josh Allen 10 times out of 10’

“I’ll take Josh Allen 10 times out of 10.” -#Bills coach Sean McDermott:

The Tennessee Titans will undoubtedly take their win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. But heck, even the Titans themselves felt for the Bills.

“I know (Josh Allen) is gonna be sick about it. Looked like he slipped or something,” Titans safety Kevin Byard said following the game. “But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”

Hindsight is 20-20 and the Bills (4-2) could’ve gone another direction with their decision. For one, a field goal would have extended the game to overtime.

Instead of doubting his decision, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott did not back down. He “never considered” kicking it, even.

“At the end of the day, I trust (Allen), and I’ll trust him again if we’re in that situation again,” McDermott said via postgame video conference. “I’ll take Josh Allen 10 times out of 10.”

Elaborating, the coach said that he took the entire picture into consideration in that moment when he decided to keep the offense on the field with 22 seconds left on fourth-and-inches.

Instead of leaving the game up to a flip of a coin in overtime, McDermott left Allen on the field and put the game in his hands. But also, the Titans offense had been rolling and the Buffalo defense was struggling to stop them in the second half and he recognized that.

“Josh is usually spot on with those [QB sneaks], you’ve seen him have a lot of success with those in that situation,” McDermott added. “We hadn’t stopped them on defense for a number of drives there in the second half, really. Again, felt like we could go and win the game right there. Obviously, didn’t get it done.”

A somber McDermott seemed like a happy guy giving that answer in his presser. Clearly dejected, Allen tried to take whatever positives he could out of the missed attempt.

Doing so for him meant that even just being given the chance to win it for his team was a confidence booster.

“I take a lot of pride in it. I love coach McDermott for giving me that opportunity and I’ve got to go out there and prove him right,” Allen said. “Sometimes the plays don’t go your way. They get paid on that side of the ball, too.”

If anyone needs any sort of further convincing that it was the right decision to try it, the fancy stats said the same thing. According to football analytics outlet NFL Next Gen Stats, the Bills had a 75 percent conversion probability on that play.

Plenty of support for the decision was found throughout the Bills locker room as well, not just with the two who had to ride or die with the outcome.

Wide receiver Cole Beasley was used as little more than a decoy on the field in that moment. He still supported it.

“That’s what you want. You want your coach to have that belief in you and who better to have the ball in their hands than (number) 17? He’s the best player we got,” Beasley said.

Safety Jordan Poyer, no where near the field of play, would’ve gone for it, too. He echoed Beasley in almost the exact same manner.

“We trust coach. We trust 17. I’m with coach 10 out of 10 times. We ride with that every time,” Poyer said.

[lawrence-related id=90331,90314,90287]

Report card: Bills fall short to Titans, 34-31

Report card: #Bills fall short to #Titans, 34-31 (via @NateMendelson):

The Bills’ month-long win streak came to an end on Monday night in Nashville. Bills fans invaded the city but a ‘L’ invaded the standings as the Tennessee Titans took the 34-31 win on prime time.

Now the Bills head to their bye-week at 4-2 and get ready for the stretch run of the season.

Following the Bills’ loss, here’s how Bills Wire graded Buffalo out in this week’s report card:

5 takeaways from the Bills’ 34-31 loss to the Titans

5 takeaways from the #Bills’ 34-31 loss to the #Titans:

The Buffalo Bills fell short on prime-time football against the Tennessee Titans. In a 34-31 final, the Bills (4-2) fell late to the Titans (3-3) and head into their bye on a sour note.

With that, here are five takeaways from the Bills’ loss:

Bills have ‘no loss of faith or confidence’ in WR Cole Beasley

What Sean McDermott, Josh Allen said about #Bills WR Cole Beasley:

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley has seen a reduction in snaps over the past two games.

But the Bills (4-1) have nothing bad to say about him.

In Week 5’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, Beasley only played in 39 percent of the snaps on offense. He recorded one catch.

Following the game, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said that was “game plan related.”

We’ll see if tha continues in Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, but regardless, the coach is still confident in the wideout.

“He’s a pro,” McDermott said Thursday via video conference. “It’s hard when you don’t get the football. And I get that. There’s only one football to go around, and sometimes it’s not just one game, it’s two games, it’s three games and how are you going to react?”

“In this case, with Cole, hang together, stay with the plan, stay bought in, knowing that your time is going to come,” McDermott added.  “I think is all part of the process of a season and a team being a real team. And to this point, you know, Cole has been very professional in the way that he’s handled it.”

In the past, Beasley, 32, has had dips in snaps played. However, the 22 total he played against the Chiefs was amongst his fewest in his Bills career.

As it has been with Beasley in recent months, magnifying the situation is something more than football.

On Oct. 4, Beasley took to his social media account on Twitter to complain about Bills fans, saying they boo him at home games. Beasley said people were taunting him because of his known stance of being “pro-choice” regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

In that game, Beasley had a slight dip in snaps played vs. the Houston Texans, then a bigger one against KC. Adding more speculation was Beasley deleting his own Twitter account after the Kansas City win.

McDermott has been steering clear of those off-field issues while discussing Beasley all week, but it still a curious series of events.

In addition to the coach, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen also echoed a similar sentiment about Beasley.

“He’s a huge piece of our offense,” Allen said via video conference. “He understands some games we’re going to need him more than others. I think everybody on this team understands that.”

We’ll see if Monday’s game plan against the Titans has some Beasley in store for us.

In Beasley’s two career games with the Bills against the Titans (3-2), he didn’t factor in a ton.

Those games took place the past two seasons, respectively, and in those outings he combined for nine catches and 71 yards.

Beasley also played in 64 and 61 percent of snaps against the Titans the last two meetings.

[lawrence-related id=90171,89728,89862]

Winners & losers from the Bills’ Week 5 win vs. the Chiefs

Winners & losers from the #Bills’ Week 5 win vs. the #Chiefs:

The Buffalo Bills were big winners for the fourth week in a row, topping the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-20.

Here are Bills Wire’s winners and losers from the action that was in Week 5:

Bills’ Cole Beasley deletes Twitter account after Sunday Night win vs. Chiefs

#Bills’ Cole Beasley deletes Twitter account after Sunday Night win vs. #Chiefs:

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley finally lived up to his preseason pledge to stay off Twitter.

Following the Bills’ 38-20 win against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in Week 5, numerous people on social media noticed something. Rather, something no longer there. Beasley had deleted his Twitter account, @Bease11.

Beasley has increasingly publicized his thoughts on COVID-19 and the NFL’s plan for vaccination on the social media platform in recent months. Most recently, the wideout took to social media to complain that even Bills fans were booing him at home games for his vaccination thoughts.

Beasley advocated for increased testing of vaccinated NFL players to keep unvaccinated players safe but repeatedly stated how he doesn’t need to receive the vaccine because he’s a professional athlete.

Beasley’s Twitter antics reached a boiling point when he and Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes publicly disagreed on the platform about vaccinations.

When it was announced that Highmark Stadium would require vaccinations for entry, he offered to buy tickets for fans to see road games at a stadium that did not have the requirement.

This season, Beasley has seen a downtick in play. He played in only 22 snaps on Sunday night, his second-lowest total since joining Buffalo in 2019. He had one catch for five yards against the Chiefs.

On Monday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott went on to say that was “game plan related” for Kansas City.

[lawrence-related id=89714,89705,89703]

Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ win over the Chiefs

Stock up, stock down following the #Bills’ win over the #Chiefs:

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in convincing fashion on Sunday Night Football.

Following the 38-20 win, here is Bills Wire’s Week 5 stock report:

Cole Beasley unhappy he’s being boo’d at home: ‘I thought Bills fans were the best in the world?’

#Bills WR Cole Beasley is not feeling the love currently:

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley felt the need to get something off his chest on Monday.

The Bills (3-1) are fresh off a 40-0 demolition of the Houston Texans. Beasley had two catches in the win.

However, Beasley says he’s unhappy with Bills Mafia attending games in Orchard Park.

According to the wide receiver, Buffalo fans are booing him at home games this season and he’s upset about it. Beasley also thinks his stance toward the COVID-19 vaccination is playing a part:

Since the offseason, Beasley has been the most outspoken NFL player in terms of taking a stance against the vaccination for COVID-19. Beasley made a statement at the start of Bills training camp to declare that he’s “pro choice,” not against anything.

That came after Beasley went toe-to-toe with people on his social media page via Twitter throughout the offseason to debate requirements for taking the vaccine.

Currently in Buffalo, the Bills are requiring fans have at least one vaccination shot to attend games. Considering that, many in the crowd likely have the opposite views on the topic as him.

Since training camp, Beasley has mostly been quiet on his Twitter account. He’s dropped a few messages, but nothing as head-turning as showing he’s upset with Bills fans.

Beasley even took another step further to clarify that… nope, he does not think the crowd is yelling “Bease” as a nickname, either. He hears boos and folks calling him out for his vaccination stance.

It remains to be seen if the team itself takes any stance on Beasley speaking out once again. Some in Buffalo’s locker room, including head coach Sean McDermott, are in favor of people getting vaccinated and have said so publicly.

The coach has also said such stances won’t have an affect on team unity and to his point… it hasn’t thus far.

But it’s still likely not the best time for Beasley to be doing so.

[lawrence-related id=89024,89018,88928]