The Bills won’t even be allowed to conduct a practice in pads until Monday, three days after their long-ago postponed preseason opener at Baltimore.
Instead, general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott are desperately trying to figure out how to minimize the coronavirus impacting a season that has so many Buffalo fans brimming with optimism.
And in a recent Zoom conference call, both addressed dealing with an issue that has only a peripheral, but potentially major impact on football.
“WE ALWAYS talk about winning off the field helps you win on the field, and it’s no different this year,” McDermott explained. “ Obviously the challenges off the field are even greater this year because of the COVID situation. Right now where we’re not only playing for a month or only playing for half of the season … it could be a long stretch.
“Because of that, it’s really going to test our endurance, it’s going to test our discipline and consistency … the accountability issue. I’ve got to be realistic with it too. We’re all human and sometimes even I need a break, but I’ve got to take my break in the right way. You’re seeing some of those things that we’re all learning pop up in other leagues, where guys have taken a break and it’s come back to haunt them.”
He admitted, “It’s a lifestyle adjustment for all of us and we have to continue to support that. I think these are all responsible decisions and conversations that we need to be having in terms of trying to keep everyone healthy.
“Our players have been great, they’ve adjusted and they’ve not blinked and certainly they’re human too. That’s sometimes what people overlook from time to time, these guys are human, they have families. So they’re trying to balance staying healthy and also being the best version of themselves, so it’s a team effort.”
TO WHICH Beane added, “We don’t have a bubble. We don’t have that concept, but we’re trying to make it really hard to catch it in here or spread it in here. The first goal to winning is keeping everyone here safe and healthy and their families because people are going back home. The last thing I would want to see is that someone got it here and took it home and gave it to a wife, a kid, a grandparent. That’s probably the biggest stress I have right now.”
He admitted, “We have to hold each other to a high standard. We talk about playoff-caliber around here. This is super important because it’s talking about people’s health. The last thing we want to do is have someone be careless, and that’s any player, any coach, any staffer … it’s on us all to do this.
“It’s not just to do it for the first week or the first month. Let’s say we do a great job through camp and we get our roster ready. This virus can spread easily and one person, two people let their guard down like we’ve seen in some of these other sports, it can spread like wildfire and could really damage our season or another team’s season and that’s the last thing we want.”
Beane conceded, “We’re all learning. We’re trying to teach each other and it’s like anything, some guys are probably very sensitive to it and being really guarded and some guys are probably a little bit looser with it. We’re just trying to get everybody on the same page.”
McDermott added, “We really haven’t had to change our messaging. We talk a lot about accountability. We talk about respect for one another, love for one another, positive energy. We’re not going to let each other down. That, to me, is the sign of a real team, that every decision I make I’m not going to let you or your family down. We’ve got to hold each other (accountable).”
BEANE AGREED, pointing out, “We had meetings with everyone’s family that could be on these (conference) calls. We’ve had three of them and that’s staff and players and coaches … just trying to spread the word that it’s not only on the person in the house that works for the Bills, it’s on everyone in the house to be smart and to communicate.
“If you realize you’ve been around someone who tested positive, communicate it to us even if you’re around them for three minutes. We may hold that staff member or that player out of the building for a couple of days, just to be smart. We’d rather give up two days with someone than 10 to 14 days.”
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimeshereald.com)
