Cole Beasley is once again speaking out about the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
On Tuesday, Beasley and fellow receiver Gabriel Davis were removed from the Bills' facility as a result of contact tracing. The two had worked with a vaccinated trainer that tested positive for COVID.
As a result, the duo was sent home and must undergo a five-day reentry process before returning. Each receiver had tested negative before leaving the facility.
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Beasley isn’t happy that he isn’t allowed to be at the facility despite testing negative. After another Bills receiver, Isaiah McKenzie, tweeted Thursday morning that he would be subject for discipline after failing to wear a mask for several minutes at the facility, Beasley trashed the NFL’s COVID protocols and gave more details about his absence.
“Don’t worry they got me too,” Beasley wrote in response to McKenzie’s tweet. “But I was wearing a mask when I was in close contact with fully vaxxed trainer who tested positive and still got sent home. So what’s the point of the mask anyways? Meanwhile I’m here still testing negative and can’t come back. Make it make sense.”
Beasley has been critical of the NFL and NFLPA’s COVID protocols in the past, and even called the NFLPA “a joke” for agreeing to the league’s adjusted protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated players in 2021. He has maintained that he is not pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine; he calls himself “pro-choice” on the matter.
Beasley also previously noted that he would rather retire than get vaccinated against COVID-19. When asked whether that was an option ahead of the season amid Beasley’s complaints, he tweeted that he will “exhaust all options” before taking that route. As a veteran, he wants to stand up more for unvaccinated players.
Im gonna exhaust all options before retiring and try to change as much as I can for the other unvaccinated players. They are not protected at all. They have to protect themselves from the vaccinated players and staff. Which is almost impossible since they’re tested 1/14 days.
— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) August 26, 2021
Of course, Beasley and the other unvaccinated players could protect themselves by getting the vaccine, which offers proven protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death. Unvaccinated people are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID, according to a recent study by the CDC.
However, it doesn’t seem like Beasley will change his mind. As such, his crusade seems set to continue for the 2021 season.
For now, though, it will be from outside of the team facility. He will be eligible to return from his five-day absence on Aug. 29 — provided that he continues to test negative for COVID-19.