Report: Bills WR Cole Beasley Out Five Days Due to COVID-19 Close Contact

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley has been removed from the team practice facility after a close contact with a member of the Buffalo training staff who tested positive for COVID-19, according to the New York Daily News's Pat Leonard.

Both Beasley and fellow wideout Gabriel Davis will be out of Buffalo practice for five days, per Leonard. Both players tested negative for COVID-19 on Tuesday. 

Beasley and Davis would be eligible to practice despite the close contact if they were vaccinated against COVID-19, per NFL rules. Beasley has been one of the most vocal voices in the NFL against receiving the COVID vaccine as he noted in training camp "without having all the proper information, a player can feel misguided and unsure about a very personal choice."

"I'm not anti or pro vax. I'm pro choice," Beasley said in a statement. "The issue at hand is information is being withheld from players in order for a player to be swayed in a direction that he may not be comfortable with."

"Safety does not solely mean avoiding the COVID virus," Beasley said. "Our health is now and years beyond which we are trying to protect with our personal choice by doing all the things we did in our protocols during the very successful 2020 NFL season."

The NFL announced on Aug. 11 a league-wide player vaccination rate of 91.7 percent. The Falcons are the lone team with 100 percent vaccine compliance, while the Bills's figure has not been reported. 

Beasley, 32, is entering his 10th NFL season in 2021. He caught a career-high 82 passes last season for 967 yards and four touchdowns.