Dion Dawkins feels lucky to live to tell his story about surviving Covid-19.
“I don't want to like scare anybody, but there was moments that I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna make this,” Dawkins said after Tuesday’s training camp practice. “Like I was down bad, I was down bad where I could barely move and I was just hurting.”
The Buffalo Bills’ left tackle revealed he spent four days in Buffalo General Medical Center right around the start of training camp after he contracted the virus. Dawkins said he got sick after receiving his second vaccination shot but before 14 days had passed from the time of the second shot. People are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks have passed after the second dosage of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
“It was honestly man, it was one of the lowest points that I’ve ever been,” Dawkins said. “I never even thought I could get that low. I’m so animated. And that hit hard. Even like with the mental stuff. It hit every part of me. I was shocked it could hit that. But being in the hospital was probably the hardest part. I was like, man, I’m in the hospital, my team is out there working and I’m here.”
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Asked to describe his symptoms, Dawkins said: “Honestly, if there’s a checklist for it, it was everything. It was shortness of breath, it was the hot and cold, it was the cough, it was everything, the dehydration, all of the body stuff ... everything was at its highest, worst.”
Dawkins said he lost a lot of weight.
“I went from like 333, 334 to like 318,” he said. “And then, because I wasn't really eating, I didn't have an appetite. Once I got back, then I started eating three meals a day and then could put on like 3 or 4 pounds easy.”
Dion Dawkins of the Buffalo Bills describes his holiday giveaway.
The Bills activated Dawkins off the Covid injury list on Thursday. He participated in his first practice on Sunday. He got a lot of snaps in 11-on-11 work in Tuesday’s practice on the grass fields at the ADPRO Sports Training Center.
“This is like my second really full padded practice or third, and it takes time,” Dawkins said. “So all of like the small minute stuff that as you get older and you don't really think of, I got to dial back in because everything is full speed. ... But that's what happens when you lose two weeks. Like we're two weeks in and I'm two days in. I just got to keep pushing myself and just get myself right because playing tackle and getting all of the steps, the mindset and all of the new rules and everything, I just got to overly work it and just prepare myself for battle.”
#Bills LT Dion Dawkins said he received both doses of the vaccine and was just shy of becoming fully vaccinated when he tested positive for Covid-19. His reasoning for getting the vaccine was because his son, Dil was born premature in February. @news4buffalo pic.twitter.com/uXfa8EuO9S
— Heather Prusak (@haprusak) August 17, 2021
Dawkins said he believes he will be fully ready for the season opener on Sept. 13.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Overall, I want to give all of the credit to the training staff, the doctors and the strength staff that has been working with me every day because I was completely lost. They gave me the knowledge and the stuff that I needed to get through it. I'm in here every day. I'm on my vitamins, I'm conditioning, I'm working out slowly. The process of what they're doing, it just feels right. And every day I've been getting better and better in practice, like as in pushing. And I'm just following what the plan is.”
Dawkins said he was stunned that the virus hit him so hard after he spent a full offseason conditioning himself to be ready for the season.
“That was the first thing that I thought of,” he said. “I said, ‘Man, how am I a professional athlete and I'm down bad like this?’ I said, ‘I can't imagine people who aren't healthy and don't work out and really like don't do anything.’ I was like, man, just God bless them because I just got off of an offseason where I was grinding every day. And then as soon as I come back, I got hit with it. So it was just like man, like this is crazy but this is a world fight and I just got hit with a bullet.”
Asked what his message would be regarding the vaccine, Dawkins said:
“I didn’t know what to believe at first because there was a lot of unknown areas about Covid and the vaccine, and not the vaccine,” he said, correcting himself. “But when I took that initiative to get vaccinated I just wanted to do what was right. The message that I probably would overall say is do what you’re most comfortable with. But I’m glad I had the vaccine when I had Covid. I wish that I could have been fully vaccinated. I was right before the fully vaccinated point. If I was fully I think that it would have been a little bit easier on myself. But hey, whatever you’re comfortable with, do it. Just do your research and think about others because everybody is going to go through it differently. Like some people it’s a day of hurt and some people it’s two weeks. Some people it’s longer. Just do your research and do what your heart says.”
Dawkins said the birth of his son, Dil Ray, six months ago, ultimately was the impetus for him to get the vaccine.
“I have a son who is a premature son,” he said. “As you know, when you have a preemie, the last things to grow are your lungs. And I was just thinking about my family, if I got Covid I can potentially harm him because it attacks the lungs. I just wanted to make sure that my family was protected, and also to I guess do what was right for myself and for this team because the rules of being vaccinated and not, they're all up in the air. I just wanted to just think about ball. So if getting vaccinated was the right direction, let's do it. I’m here to play ball. I have a family to take care of.”
He said his battle spurred family members to get the vaccine, as well.
“Yes, it has. From a trickle effect all the way through and my family, from my nephews to my mom to my dad, to my brothers and sisters, everybody. Everybody has just been on board with whatever we have to do to just try to protect ourselves as much as possible. Let’s do it.”
What did he tell teammates?
"I was just overall honest with them and feeding them whatever they wanted to hear," he said. "Just the raw, honest truth. Whether it sounded good or sounded bad. I just shot it straight.”
Dawkins would not question Bills receiver Cole Beasley’s decision to not get the vaccine.
“That’s my brother, and we’re all here together,” Dawkins said. “I don’t think that he’s downplaying it. I just think he’s downplaying the knowledge that was given to him. ... For Bease, it just wasn’t enough for him to make a decision. And as a person he just feels like he could just speak his mind, which he can. But I don’t think that he was downplaying it.”
Bills coach Sean McDermott stressed on Sunday that Dawkins has a lot of work to do in the four weeks leading to the start of the regular season.
“He's not close to where he needs to be to play and help us, so he's got a long road here,” McDermott said.
Indeed, Dawkins looked winded at the end of a long offensive drive in Tuesday’s practice. But Dawkins blocked well. He blocked up Mario Addison in the first snap of one-on-one pass rushing drills. He protected Josh Allen well during 11-on-11 work.
“I’m starting to feel more and more like myself every day,” Dawkins said. “I’m just hitting the field as hard as I can without over-stressing it. And just rocking out.”
