TRACKING TRAINING CAMP

Bills Digest was there for all the big moments at training camp. Here are some observations …

- Mark Ludwiczak

There was no trip down the I-90 to St. John Fisher and no hoard of screaming, raucous fans, but the Bills officially kicked off training camp at their home facilities on July 28.

Naturally, the continuing presence of COVID-19 and the ensuing protocols were a focus on Day One. General manager Brandon Beane provided an update regarding the team’s vaccination numbers, and touched on several other topics before the team took to the field.

“We’re just over 80 percent that have at least one shot,” Beane said. “We’ve had a lot of guys over the summer that have continued to research, and that’s all we were trying to do is educate them. Some guys in the middle of summer, some guys even yesterday showed up and said, ‘You know what, I think I do want to start that process.’

“We’re still dealing with this, we’re still learning it. It’s been a tough situation for our country and it’s no different here. We’ve been trying to educate our guys, all through back in May and June. Our guys have done a really good job of listening and trying to educate themselves. Are we 100 percent? No, but a lot of guys have made that decision. We’ve had an uptick of guys that have at least got one shot. So we’ll continue to educate. At the end of the day, we’re not going to force it on any of our players or any of our staff. That’s a personal decision. And that’s how the organization will handle it going forward.”