Hapless Bills Fan

Did they have it last year?

Just for perspective, list of players not seen on field by media: The player missing that I'm actually most surprised by is Devin Singletary. Notable that another DT and two vet DEs aren't there either. Considering they were supposedly all eager to work with our new DE draftees that's a bit disappointing to me.

We're not "in camp" yet. We're in Phase III of voluntary off-season workouts. You just can't resist taking a personal shot at me, can you? There's a difference between a subject that actually has some information and legit football discussion and a thread that was started with a one line insult (insufficient substrate for discussion) and where the OP's contribution is to loop back with further one line insults. That's not the kind of board Scott's trying to maintain. If you can't see this, Oh Well. I'm fairly confident that most folks here can.

More on this point. When I was in a hiring position, we would frequently have temporary workers and interns. The ones to whom we offered permanent positions when they graduated or when their temp contract was up, were invariably the ones we thought highly of, the ones where we liked their work. Well, this young woman had an internship with the Bills last summer, so presumably the same applies. They liked her work and know (based on actual job performance last summer) she is capable of doing the job and fitting in with the culture.

LOL Josh says "I figured you were" when they told him they were taping him. Smart man, always assume you're on tape with a media guy.

Congratulations, you got in before the lock, so you get the last word. You didn't answer my question tho - I didn't ask about your personal vaccination status nor question the NFL/NFLPA decision to make vaccination a choice nor did I question the players right to not share their vaccination status. I feel really bad about locking the JA presser thread but I just don't have time to baby sit it.

I think that it's a topic a lot of people feel strongly about one way or the other, so even when we're making a good faith effort to limit the scope to football strong personal feelings tend to come out. I'm not liking all the talk referencing decisions to not be vaccinated as "selfish" and "stupid" and I just hid a post referring to people who get vaccinated or promote vaccination as "Brainwashed Communists" so, it's probably time to put this one to bed. I hope the NFL and NFLPA come out soon with protocols that vaccinated vs unvaccinated players will followbecause I think that might be an influencing factor.

Yes, it is their personal choice, but as I said...you sound kind of happy about the idea the Bills might hypothetically place themselves at a competitive disadvantage to, say, the Cheatriots or the Seasnakes or the Chiefs. I mean, you seem to be kind of cheering for the news most players are currently exercising the "don't" option "freedom of choice is a wonderful thing". Am I reading you wrong? I mean, yes, in the abstract, it is, but when exercising it may place the football team I love at a potential competitive disadvantage relative to their competition, that's not how I personally choose to express myself. Do you even have a Facebook account to know what one of those looks like? I mean, we shame them for their football play too.

Those are all reasonable changes. Another reasonable change would be vaccinated players and staff don't need to quarantine as a close contact of an infected individual. Per the memo I linked above, those seem to be changes for vaccinated staff. But have you actually seen the NFL or NFLPA come out and say those will be the policies? Could you provide a link?

Unlikely "all teams" will have similar numbers. There will be teams that have player leadership that support getting vaccinated and that do an exceptional job reaching out to players and persuading, and they will seize the competitive advantage that offers. I kind of get the impression you're fine with, or even kind of gleeful, if the Bills don't manage to join those teams and place themselves at a competitive disadvantage to (say) the Kansas City Chiefs, or the Seattle Seasnakes, thereby - that you view this as a "moral victory" of sorts?

You could have started a thread with some sort of substance: information, links, or rational argument, but you didn't. If you want to start a thread just to bash a player repeatedly, go somewhere else where that stuff's on-point and par for the course.

That's true, but the odds of catching it are much reduced and the odds of getting seriously ill with it even more so It's a point that the NFL/NFLPA has not yet come out and said what the new protocols will be for vaccinated players. They said in a memo that vaccinated staff don't need to wear contact tracers or quarantine if they're a close contact but it's not at all clear to me the NFLPA has signed off on that.

Then this is something wise people would seek information about from legitimate, informed sources, not dudes and dudettes on Twitter or someone with a Youtube account and a white coat who says "I'm a doctor and...". It's not a secret in the pharma industry how this happened or why the mRNA and Adeno vaccines were the first kids on the block and the more conventional inactivated virus and adjuvant/conjugate protein vaccines are just now completing their Phase IIIs and putting their EUA package together. I'm not gonna here, but I could tell you all about it and point you to a dozen reputable sources (most available online) that could give more detail and back that up. Vaccination is a choice, people choose, I get it, but it's frustrating when people assert their choice based on innuendo and misinformation or misunderstanding instead of facts. C'mon Man. STDs are not an issue. They are not transmitted by breathing the same air as someone you're sitting next to, using the next locker to, or receiving treatment from. On the other hand, Covid-19 is, and there were healthy strong players last year who suffered lasting effects from it - Von Miller, Myles Garrett, Tommy Sweeney, possibly Cam Newton. The official position of the NFLPA is that Covid-19 is a health threat and the players want to avoid catching Covid-19. See for example: If you believe something in the workplace is a threat to you and yours, it really ought to be appropriate to ask about it, don't you think?

Most people don't frame "murder" as a choice. It's against the law basically, everywhere. I suppose you can frame it as a "choice" in that "yes, it's against the law and a moral wrong, but I can decide whether or not I'm going to break the law and commit a moral wrong" but that's really a bit sophistical in this instance, isn't it? The NFL has said vaccination is not mandatory; it is something the players can choose. It isn't the law to get vaccinated right now. I don't think my opinions are a secret around here, but those are my opinions, they have neither the force of law nor team mandate for the players. It's a choice. For most people, a choice means something that is legal and freely available to them. Comparing this to a "choice" to commit murder or otherwise break the law and then bringing in "moral relativism" on a football discussion board is just bizarre. It's going to place the Bills at a serious competitive disadvantage unless the players basically agree to live the cloistered, restricted existance they led last season.

Not sure how you conclude that. Beane has been vocal about needing to make a shift to younger cheaper. Hughes and Addison are #3 and #5 for highest cap players on the team this year, and both in their last deal. We moved on from Murphy already. Fundamentally even if Epenesa hits, I think Beane sees it as I need 4 guys next year, who they gonna be? If he gets some success from Epenesa plus 2 of his 3 acquisitions this season (Groot, Boogie, Obada) we probably still need another guy.

So I dunno if I'm the last one who knew this....if you're watching the video clips, Heads Up: Jake Kumerow has taken #15! Tanner Gentry has taken #87 So...I was watching a clip where #87 went up for a ball in traffic, made a nice catch, and showed good body control turning in the air to land headed downfield and thinking "nice catch by Kume" and No, that was Gentry (course in a real game the DBs flanking him would have eaten him, better to go down) Then watching a clip where #15 caught a ball and turned in stride asking "who is that?" it's Kumerow. https://www.instagram.com/p/CPTfQDlJa6a/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Brandin Bryant looks as though he's ready to make a play for a spot

It’s a legit question but if the answer is “team has had discussions, not gonna disclose my status, keeping discussions in-house” and they keep asking in different ways, it becomes obnoxious

Epenesa (listed as 6'6" 260) looks skinnier than Tre Edmunds (listed as 6'5", 250) He makes Jerry Hughes (6'2" 254) look like a rollin' keg o' butcher knives by comparison This is who the Bills have at DE and their heights/weights for comparison:

I could be wrong, but I expect the Bills did a team meeting with the PR folks and agreed that everyone would decline to answer questions about their vaccination status and say that the team has had discussions about it. So I think if he's vaccinated, you'll still get the same answer ("not going to disclose my status") and the same discussions. Personally I think it's smart - if everyone gives the same stone-walling answer, the media will sooner or later "get the flick" and move on. If one guy says yes or no, it will invite a whole bunch of follow-on questions. I can be proven wrong the first time a Bills player answers differently.

Yes, it was, you can see him roll and grab his shoulder right away.

I can't remember which game it was, but in one of them both Josh and Diggs said the play called for Diggs to run a post, but the way the safety was playing it he just ran a go and Josh "saw his numbers going away from me" and threw a TD. On the other hand, Beasley has stressed that he and Josh have to see the defense and the options he's going to run exactly the same way to avoid picks. I do think some of the picks Fitz threw his last year in B'lo were him and Stevie not being on the same page.

That's because the coach and GM are operating under these rules: ("employee" here does not include players as far as I know) I think now that Tremaine Edmunds has basically said the same thing as Josh Allen, it's pretty clear it's a "canned response" I think there's a bit more to it than just 'they are fine' - I think that unvaccinated players still need to mask within the facility still and get tested daily, and aren't supposed to meet up outside the facility or maybe not more than 3 at a time or something. From the memo (I think employees here may include players, but have not been able to find anything explicitly saying players don't need to wear Kinexion, get tested less often, can meetup outside the facility etc):

Correct. Coaches/FO people and NFL players operate under a different set of employment rules. Players under CBA with NFLPA and other agreements added in; Coaches and FO people under whatever individual agreements they have with the clubs - I don't think there's a collectively-bargained "NFL FO and coaches agreement" Players who aren't vaccinated have a different set of restrictions on them. But the collectively-bargained agreement is that vaccination is not mandatory for players.

No, different situation. NFL put the screws on coaches and FO people - they MUST be vaxxed for player contact. So if Beane & McDermott are having player contact, they’re vaxxed.

This is a guess, but my take would be we won’t see any Bills players publically questioning vaccination either. I think they’ve made a decision as a team not to speak publically about vaccination, just like they made a decision as a team to stay in the locker room for the National Anthem.