Bills' Sean McDermott spoke with Cole Beasley about Twitter rant on COVID-19 vaccines, restrictions

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley generated widespread negative headlines and reactions last month when he took to Twitter to rant about the league's health and safety protocols regarding COVID-19 and vaccinations among players. 

Bills head coach Sean McDermott recently spoke with News 8 sports director Thad Brown and admitted he discussed the matter with his receiver. 

"Certainly respect Cole’s opinion. I think that’s where we are as a world," McDermott explained. "Got a lot of different people having a lot of different opinions. The best thing we can do is respect each other’s positions."

Before Beasley's online outburst, Bills general manager Brandon Beane suggested he could threaten to cut unvaccinated players, which resulted in the league and NFL Players Association reminding Beane and everyone else players cannot lose roster spots just because they won't get jabbed.

McDermott added he trusts his guys will "make good decisions" knowing that certain coronavirus-related guidelines can be lifted if at least 85% of a team's players are fully vaccinated. 

"I just hope we continue to move forward in that direction just for the greater good of society and the greater good of our team," the coach continued. "But again, have to respect everyone’s position either to get vaccinated or not to get vaccinated." 

Also on Wednesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that 68% of the league's players have now received at least one vaccine shot.