Are you looking forward to OTAs kicking off today? Eager to see a Vine of LeSean McCoy doing a ladder drill, or Tyrod Taylor throwing fades in the end zone? Looking for Joe Buscaglia's daily writeup of the players going through the drills?
Sorry, that's not happening this year.
The Buffalo Bills announced a brand new set of media guidelines for the 2016 season, and they'll probably get a note of congratulation from the National Security Administration on their strict policy. Among the new limitations, which affect all media reporting on the Bills:
-They cannot report on who is playing with the first string or the second string
-They cannot report who is rushing the passer
-They cannot report if a quarterback is completing his passes or if they are intercepted, or if a receiver catches or drops the ball
-The media is not allowed to talk with players during or after practice, only during specified "media availability sessions"
-Photographers are only permitted to take pictures during stretches and individual drills, and they have to do it from a boxed area ten yards away from the field
-Media are not allowed to stream any parts of practice using applications like Meerkat or Periscope
This is the latest PR-unfriendly move from a franchise that has been embracing secrecy at the expense of the media, and by extension the fans that depend on news reports to give them something to hear and talk about with their favorite players.