Rachel Bush, the model wife of Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer, is calling on the NFL to fix its differing sets of rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated players, as several of her husband's teammates are being quarantined or fined over COVID-19 protocol.
'Somebody better fix this s*** ASAP,' she tweeted earlier this week.
Bush complained about NFL vaccination policies on Twitter after four unvaccinated Bills players were forced to quarantine because they were in close contact with a club employee who had tested positive. Had those players been vaccinated, they would be permitted to return to training camp provided they tested negative for coronavirus.
Rachel Bush (right, near left), the model wife of Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer (far left), is calling on the NFL to fix its differing sets of rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated players, as several of her husband's teammates are being quarantined or fined over COVID-19 protocol
Bush complained about NFL vaccination policies on Twitter after four unvaccinated Bills players were forced quarantine because they were in close contact with a club employee who had tested positive. Had those players been vaccinated, they would be permitted to return to training camp provided they tested negative for coronavirus, per league rules
Bills defensive tackles Star Lotulelei and Vernon Butler as well as wide receivers Gabriel Davis and Cole Beasley are the players who are currently being quarantined. All players have tested negative for COVID-19, but aren't permitted to return to the team until their five-day waiting period is over. And as a precaution, Bills linebackers Matt Milano and A.J. Klein were also sent home Tuesday
Unlike NFL players — who did not face a COVID-19 vaccine mandate — coaches, trainers, and some other team personnel are required to get the injection in order to work directly with the roster. In her following tweet, Bush stressed that the team employee is not to blame
Per league rules, the staffer who tested positive was vaccinated, which Bush says brings the NFL's COVID-19 protocols into question.
'All these headlines should be starting off with ''vaccinated staff member…'' then take it where you want it,' Bush tweeted. 'But the reason we are missing 5 guys right now is because of a VACCINATED PERSON. Call it like it is.'
In her following tweet, Bush stressed that the team employee is not to blame.
'I don't want to point fingers at the staff member either,' she continued. '[He or she] had no choice, they had to keep their job. It's the rules that need to be addressed and changed because the vaccinated are putting others at risk. It's very clear now.'
Bills defensive tackles Star Lotulelei and Vernon Butler as well as wide receivers Gabriel Davis and Cole Beasley are the players who are currently being quarantined. All players have tested negative for COVID-19, but aren't permitted to return to the team until their five-day waiting period is over.
And as a precaution, Bills linebackers Matt Milano and A.J. Klein were also sent home Tuesday.
Although more than 92 percent of NFL players are vaccinated, according to the league, the Bills appear to be on the lower end of that spectrum, and recently reported that the team is 'hovering around 80 percent.'
Bills general manager Brandon Beane recently told reporters that he doesn't know if the team has more than 80 percent of its roster vaccinated.
On Thursday, Bills coach Sean McDermott vented his frustrations about his players' reluctance to get vaccinated.
'It's tough,' McDermott said before practice. 'It's frustrating. It's challenging, however you want to say it. But I can't make the decision for them.'
A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Beasley, fellow receiver Gabriel Davis (right), and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei will be forced to quarantine for five days after they were found to be in close contact with an infected member of the team's training staff. The trio will miss the Bills' final preseason game on Saturday against the visiting Green Bay Packers. Bills coach Sean McDermott (left) has said the team has done everything it can to educate players
Beasley has been particularly critical about the NFL's vaccination policies, which, for unvaccinated players, are more or less the same as last year: Daily testing, social distancing, restricted access at the team facility, travel restrictions, and mask requirements.
Players who are vaccinated are not subject to any of those requirements.
Beasley, along with fellow Bills receiver Isaiah McKenzie, revealed this week that they were fined by the NFL for mask violations at the team facility.
McKenzie wrote 'They got me! @NFL you win!' in a social media post in which he included a copy of the first page of a letter he received from the league informing him of the violation. It was McKenzie's second violation; the league issued him a warning on July 27, a day before the Bills opened training camp.
Under league rules, the first offense for violating the protocols will result in a fine of $14,650. Repeat violations could result in a player being suspended or fined a week's salary.
The NFL wrote that McKenzie twice failed to wear a mask on Wednesday. The first violation came while he walked through the team's fieldhouse to the trainer's room, and the second was later in the day while he was in a meeting area of the weight room near other players.
The league also noted his violation came shortly after NFL staff made a presentation reminding players of the mask-wearing requirements and that penalties may result to players who fail to do so.
'For players who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19, like you, your conduct is expressly prohibited by the protocols,' the NFL wrote. 'Again, your conduct potentially compromised not only your safety, but the safety of others, as well as the league's ability to ensure that your club's training camp is conducted in a safe manner.'
Beasley responded to McKenzie's tweet by revealing that he has also been fined.
'Don't worry they got me too,' Beasley wrote. 'But I was wearing a mask when I was in close contact with fully vaxxed trainer who tested positive and still got sent home. So what's the point of the mask anyways? Meanwhile I'm here still testing negative and can't come back. Make it make sense.'
Beasley has been an outspoken critic against vaccinations and the league's COVID-19 policies. In June, he posted a statement on social media threatening to retire after the NFL and NFLPA announced new rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated players.
He opened training camp by reading from a statement in which he repeatedly referred to a lack of transparency and information on vaccinations. Beasley's comments contradicted those by McDermott, who has said the team has done everything it can to educate players.
'This is crazy,' Beasley tweeted in late June. 'Did we vote on this? I stay in the hotel. We still have meetings. We will all be together. Vaccinated players can go out the hotel and bring covid back in to where I am. So what does it matter if I stay in the hotel now? 100 percent immune with vaccination? No.'
Bush has more than 1.7 million followers on Instagram, where she frequently pictures herself and promotes her line of skincare products.
Poyer, 30, and Bush, 23, were married in 2018 and have one daughter, according to the .
Beasley, who is unvaccinated, is unhappy about the continued restrictions he faces. Specifically, the 32-year-old took issue with a rule barring unvaccinated players from leaving the team hotel or interacting with people outside the club on road trips
Beasley did not simply take issue with the league, but rather, specifically called out the NFLPA.
'The players association is a joke,' he tweeted. 'Call it something different. It's not for the players. Everyone gives me the 98 percent of people who are vaccinated don't get covid again. The odds of me getting in the NFL and playing for 10 years are lower than that and I'm here.'
Inoculated players will also be allowed to use steam rooms or saunas going forward, and they can take advantage of sponsorship opportunities, which had been restricted under previous COVID-19 protocols.
'So what are we really talking about?' Beasley asked in another tweet. 'I understand completely why the NFL is doing this. It gives them back the freedom to make the most money as possible again if everyone is vaccinated. But will anyone fight for the players or nah?'
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Cole Beasley is among 4 players sent home for COVID close contact as Bills are thrust back into vaccination discussion - The
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