1. GM Brandon Beane's initial thoughts on a virtual draft
Bills general manager Brandon Beane joined Adam Schefter’s weekly podcast to share how he's preparing for a virtual draft. Beane has made it clear that he didn't want the draft to get pushed back and was open to drafting however it needed to happen. Buffalo Bills IT staff have already been at Beane's house helping set up to draft from his home.
"We are looking at a couple of options either my office or down in my basement," Beane said. "We are going to look at everything and either way we will find a way to make it work."
Beane explained he doesn't view the draft circumstances as a disadvantage.
"It's the world we live in now and I understand it's the right thing to do with the social distancing," Beane said. "It's the same for all 32 teams, so I don't look at it as a disadvantage. We'll find a way and it will be one of those ones maybe in 20 years they do a 30-for-30 on."
When it comes to trades and the communication that goes into executing a trade, with usually a few different people on the phone at the same time to make it happen, Beane said he wouldn't be shocked if there are less trades this year.
"I think we are going to have to see how complicated it is versus what we're used to and what's the time constraints," Beane said. "Are there going to be any parameters once or twice in the draft where you can extend it? Maybe you can ask to be extended two minutes or something like that."
With everyone experiencing a virtual draft for the first time, Beane shared the biggest concerns for him are the unknowns, but not having a first-round pick will help them navigate by watching other teams work through drafting on day one.
"Not that I don't want a first-round, I would love to still be picking in the first-round," Beane explained. "With that said, if there was ever a year to trade out of the first-round maybe this was the year to give everybody else maybe a night to test the technology and see if there are any kinks before our pick in the second round."
2. Former Bills tight end Mark Campbell recovering from COVID-19
Former Buffalo Bill Mark Campbell who played for the Bills from 2003 to 2005 is currently recovering from COVID-19. Campbell lives in Michigan with his family and thinks he contracted the virus from a gas station while on his way home from a family trip. The former Bill did an interview with the Detroit Free Press to explain the severity and help spread awareness. Campbell self-isolated for close to two weeks before spending almost a week in the hospital.
"I played 10 years in the NFL, pretty tough, was thinking basically I'm going to grind all this out," he said. "It (bleeping) kicked my ass."
After the family came back from their weekend trip, Campbell contracted a fever and went to receive a COVID-19 test.
Medical personnel on site took his vitals and asked a series of questions about his health. He hadn't been around anyone who had traveled recently – or really, anyone but his family. They told him he likely had COVID-19, but with no underlying medical conditions and no family history of heart trouble, he didn't qualify for a test. The only thing to do was go home and self-isolate.
Campbell self-isolated in his basement without much of an appetite for several days. The article details after five days into self-isolation at home, he started to develop a dry cough. At close to the two-week mark, Campbell began to have trouble breathing.
"It wasn't wheezing," Campbell said. "it's like I could breath, kind of in these short quick breaths, but I could never get satisfied with the oxygen. So I couldn't have these big, deep breaths. If I did that, I would start coughing and it would get worse. So I couldn't expand my lungs."
That's when Campbell was admitted into the hospital with a 103.1 temperature and an oxygen level at 86%. After five days, the day his test results confirmed he had the virus, Campbell was released from the hospital to self-isolate for another two weeks. Dave Birkett writes that the former tight end's health is 85% back with still not much of an appetite, down 17 pounds.
"The way I look at it, too, especially with the isolation or quarantine, look, it sucks," Campbell said. "There's no other way to tell you that when you're sitting in a basement by yourself. With all that being said, man, I feel blessed and healthy right now. And it's a small price to pay for the whole bigger picture."
3. Kyle Williams: That place fit me better than anywhere else
Former Buffalo Bill Kyle Williams joined former Bill and current Buffalo Bills radio color analyst Eric Wood on his weekly podcast titled What’s Next with Eric Wood. Williams and Wood talked about their time playing for Buffalo and what made the Bills different than other teams in the NFL. Williams explained it was the people and the culture that made the Bills the best fit for him.
"That place fit me better than anywhere else would have because of the community, the passion for their team and football" Williams told Wood. "I think some people have heard me speak and talk about it, we got an opportunity to play in a place that celebrated grit as much as they celebrated talent. You go to a lot of these places and you talk about measurables, this and that, one-handed catches. But in Buffalo, they'll put their finger on you and say you see that cat right there? That dude gives you all he's got all the time, every day, all day."
