Bills Notebook: Tremaine Edmunds Back With no Restrictions
Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott started his Tuesday press conference with some encouraging injury news: Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds would practice without restrictions for the first time since missing the previous two games with a hamstring strain.
And although the coach reiterated the day before that wide receiver Cole Beasley and his cranky ribcage were getting better, Beasley was limited in practice again to begin this short week as the Bills prepare for a game in New Orleans on Thanksgiving night.
"It's great when your team is playing on Thanksgiving ... because of the tradition around playing football on Thanksgiving in America," McDermott said. "And, you know, it's a game where there's a lot of people at home around our league watching your team play and and yet at the same time, I think there's something special to be to be said for it's just us on the road.
"Obviously there's some fans, but it brings a team closer together when you're spending a holiday — look everybody wants to be home for the holidays, don't get me wrong, but when you're together on a holiday I think it brings you a little bit closer as a team."
No COVID-19 updates
McDermott continued on his path of refusing to provide any information on players dealing with COVID-19 issues, specifically defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and left tackle Spencer Brown, who remain on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
The coach cited NFL rules, although coaches and executives from many other teams have commented throughout the season without the league disciplining them.
Lotulelei stands to miss his third game in a row on Thursday. Brown could miss his second in a row.
Their vaccination status hasn't been disclosed, but McDermott may have dropped a hint after Sunday's 41-15 loss to Indianapolis that neither one has had the vaccine when asked if he was galled that COVID protocols weakened the team.
"Again, I respect those guys’ decisions,” McDermott responded, "and I’m going to talk about the guys who are here."
If Lotulelei is unvaccinated, it would be particularly perplexing, considering he opted out of last season due to COVID concerns.
Compressed preparation
Being limited to two days of practice means the Bills have to compress 3½ days of work into two before hopping on the plane.
Quarterback Josh Allen talked about that Tuesday.
"You have to kind of fast-track," he said. "Third-down, red-zone, blitz kind of fall into one day. Our guys handled it really well today. I think we've got a good grasp of what we want to do and how we're going to handle things."
No time to look back
Allen once again pointed out how fortunate he believes his team is to have a quick turnaround after Sunday's hideous loss.
"You can't feel sorry for yourself," he said. "We can't let one week affect another week. You've got to go out there and ... again, I think it's very fortunate that we have a Thursday night game that we can turn our attention to our next opponent. Because, again, we can't let one week turn into two.
"So we're excited to get out there on Thursday and try to be the team that we know we can be, you know, and that's a team that's willing to do whatever whatever it takes to win a football game."
What the Bills have to take into account, though, is that the Saints likely feel the same way after being similarly embarrassed by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Only they don't have to travel.
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
