Sean McDermott and the Buffalo Bills are 6-2 at the midpoint of the season. Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Here's the explanation behind Sean McDermott's halftime phone call

By Erin Walsh | Last updated Nov 1, 2020 5:51 PM ET

The Buffalo Bills' 24-21 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday marked their first home win against their AFC East rival since 2011, but that wasn't what fans were talking about during and after the game ... at least Patriots fans, anyway.

As both teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime, Bills head coach Sean McDermott was shown on the CBS broadcast speaking on a cellphone, which isn't allowed starting 90 minutes before the game.

Sean McDermott on a cell phone on running to the locker room at halftime? Don’t know if that’s a Covid interview thing or if there’s something personal going on but if this was Bill Belichick everyone would be screaming about a conspiracy pic.twitter.com/1ikPyGGkPH
— Nick Veronica (@NickVeronica) November 1, 2020

That rule has been in place for a while, but there's actually a very reasonable explanation behind McDermott's phone call.

According to The Buffalo News, McDermott was on the phone with Evan Washburn of CBS Sports for his halftime interview. The interview was held over the phone to limit contact due to COVID-19 and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also was set to speak with Washburn as well.

If the CBS broadcast happened to show Belichick on the phone during the game, fans would have been more enraged, calling the Patriots head coach a cheater... which is something he's used to at this point in his career following Spygate in 2007 and Deflategate in 2014, among other scandals.

Erin Walsh

Erin Walsh is a Boston sports fan through and through. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Bridgewater State University and currently is in pursuit of her Master's Degree in Journalism from Northeastern University. Follow her on Twitter @ewalsh90

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