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Bills' McDermott keeps focus on Patriots game, not COVID situation

Sean McDermott made it clear he would not talk about the team's recent struggles with COVID, only putting his focus on this Sunday's game.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — After Tuesday's big news that Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley will miss Sunday's game versus New England after contracting COVID-19, head coach Sean McDermott met the media on Wednesday via zoom and made it clear that he would not comment on Beasley's situation.

Beasley, of course, has been vocal on being strongly against being vaccinated, and now the unvaccinated wide out is forced to miss the biggest game of the year.

McDermott turned the conversation towards the Patriots and making sure his team is ready for Sunday's game, saying the team us focusing only on things that it can control. 

Looking forward to the current depth chart for Sunday's game, McDermott did provide an update on veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who has been out with a knee injury that he suffered in Buffalo's loss to Tampa Bay.

Coach McDermott said Sanders would participate fully in the Bills' Wednesday walk-through and that the team will monitor his status day-to-day. There is no update at the moment on if Sanders will be able to suit up on Sunday versus New England. 

Josh Allen did comment on the team being able to potentially get Sanders back in the lineup with Beasley being out.

"I think it would be a big boost for us," said Allen, who went on to define Sanders as someone with value due to his veteran status. 

Even with a depleted receiver unit, the Bills understand how important Sunday's game is. With a win, the Bills would control their own destiny as the top seed in the AFC East moving forward.

When you look at the Bills' final two games versus the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets, these are games the team should be able to take care of. This game Sunday is as important as Bills regular season games come.

Jordan Poyer said of the game, "What an opportunity, to play the game you love, especially this important deep in December."

Last time against the Patriots, the Bills struggled to stop Damien Harris and the Patriots ground game in Orchard Park.

Poyer went on to say: "We talked about that today. That half against New England was the worst of the season."

He also mentioned tackling is something the team is honing in on to improve heading into Sunday. Poyer also said to improve in tackling, it's beyond just the physical: "It's a mindset, we are bringing down grown men."

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