Bills lose another wide receiver to COVID-19 before Patriots game

Buffalo wide receiver Gabriel Davis tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and won’t play this weekend because he is unvaccinated, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Davis is the second unvaccinated Bills wideout who will miss Sunday’s kickoff because of a positive test, after starting slot receiver Cole Beasley was placed on COVID-19 reserve earlier this week. Beasley is the team’s second-leading receiver with 76 catches for 640 yards and one touchdown. He was limited to a single reception in the Pats’ win at Buffalo on Dec. 6.

Davis has caught 29 passes for 470 yards and six touchdowns this season. His 16.2 yards per reception average leads the Bills and ranks 11th-best across the league. Davis was the intended target on Josh Allen‘s fourth-down incompletion that sealed the Patriots’ win at Orchard Park. He also caught Buffalo’s only touchdown.

Without them, the Bills are down to All-Pro wideout Stefon Diggs and longtime veteran Emmanuel Sanders, both starters. Backup Isaiah McKenzie, a dangerous return man, is expected to replace Beasley in the slot.

“He’s very quick and elusive, and if he gets a crease, he can make a big play, go all the way,” Bill Belichick said Friday of McKenzie. “So a versatile player, can catch the ball, and they use him in the backfield, use him on some hand-off plays, speed sweeps and reverses and things like that; throw it to him (on) quick screens, over-the-middle plays, deep balls. … We’ll have to do a great job on him.”

Buffalo offensive lineman Cody Ford was also placed on COVID-19 reserve Friday.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3FuAQC7