transplantbillsfan

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.

Also disagree at this point... at least based on preseason. Singletary looks like a new RB. He’s looked good the last 2 weeks against most of the starters. He’s fast, decisive and deceptively powerful. I was disappointed with any other RB on the field... other than Gilliam.

Shaw, the truth is, this is too harsh. All reports from camp have been that McKenzie has been exponentially better at fielding kickoffs and punts than his competition. We just saw a muffed punt live on TV. And I say that for myself, too. Because I thought out of Kumerow's 4 targets, he dropped 2. That quick crosser was pretty brutal. But I still think he's a lock because of all reports from camp saying he essentially catches everything.

Honestly... what the hell is Smith supposed to do there? Such a tough situation running at a QB who's crouching. Y`know you can't go too low because hitting him in the knees is also a penalty and QBs league wide I'm sure would tell you they'd rather get hit the way Smith hit him than at the knees. To me that flag should have been thrown on Fields: 15 yards for Extreme Negligence and Lack of Awareness I put that in my negatives, too. I think best case scenario for us is that Stevenson gets IRed because McKenzie is a lock at this point because of how dynamic he is. Truthfully, I had some longterm hopes that he could replace Beasley in the slot, but his ball security issues are an issue.

Zimmer also almost caught Fields on a scramble. I was actually pretty upset when he was on the ground for an injury and stoked when he was back in there! Since Allen signed the new contract, Star isn't long for the team and it would be really helpful if Horrible Harry and Zimmer took big steps forward this year.

I think Fitz is better than Mitch.

With so much good in this game in the important part of the game (the 1st half), the bad really sticks out. And I really only have 4 bads: 1) Kumerow's 2 drops. It's really just one drop in my eyes because that first one his left arm was held, but he coulda caught that. 2nd drop was brutal. Still think he's firmly on the roster, but maybe this opens a window for the other TC darling in Lenoir. He DEFINITELY started making up for the drops with that impressive sideline catch and toe drag. 2) Knox dropped another ball. That plus Hollister looks really good might help flip the starting TE sooner rather than later. 3) Epenesa just plain whiffed on a tackle he should have made. Obviously the sack late in the half was a good way to start to make up for it. And yes, he played pretty well otherwise. 4) McKenzie muffed a punt. He’s an absolute roster lock, though. You can tell especially based on how much they went in his direction after that play on offense... maybe just showing confidence in him. And you can see why he's pretty much a roster lock with what he does on offense. Some might point to Siran Neal on that TD from Dalton, but that was pretty solid coverage, just a great catch essentially off Neal's helmet. Thought Neal had a pretty solid first half. On the positive side it's looking like Gilliam has found a spot on this team. Defense has some serious depth. Wildgoose played pretty well. Obviously Mitch played great and I feel good if Josh misses a game or 2. Oh... and Singletary looks like a different player. He’s RB1 at this point for sure. It'd be nice if some of our WRs don't get picked up after cutdowns and we can stash them on the PS.

Guessing this has been talked about, but with so much good in this game, the bad really sticks out. And I really only have 4 bads: 1) Kumerow's 2 drops. It's really just one drop in my eyes because that first one his left arm was held, but he coulda caught that. 2nd drop was brutal. Still think he's firmly on the roster, but maybe this opens a window for the other TC darling in Lenoir. He DEFINITELY started making up for the drops with that impressive sideline catch and toe drag. 2) Knox dropped another ball. That plus Hollister looks good might help flip the starting TE sooner rather than later. 3) Epenesa just plain whiffed on a tackle he should have made. Obviously the sack late in the half was a good way to start to make up for it. 4) McKenzie muffed a punt. He’s an absolute roster lock, though. You can tell especially based on how much they went in his direction after that play on offense... maybe just showing confidence in him. And you can see why he's pretty much a roster lock with what he does on offense. Some might point to Siran Neal on that TD from Dalton, but that was pretty solid coverage, just a great catch essentially off Neal's helmet. Thought Neal had a pretty solid first half.

Nor does this: Note the ONLY guy who hits the crossbar in the accuracy competition... just sayin...

How do you not just absolutely love this dude?