While still reeling from the sight of Damar Hamlin’s collapse during Monday night’s game, Bills players say the positive updates about his condition has eased some of the pain and tension.
— The worst part of the past three days for Buffalo Bills cornerback Dane Jackson was the unknown.
His hometown friend Damar Hamlin had collapsed on the field during the first quarter of Monday night’s Bills-Bengals game and was in critical care in the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest. While the Bills kept players updated on all the latest with Hamlin, there was still uncertainty about what the future held for him.
“Just as a player, as that being our brother and him being so close, you’re just wondering is he going to be all right in the end,” Jackson said. “So, once we got updates and once we got feedback, it just started to make us feel a little better.”
Jackson shared his thoughts during the team’s first public comments since Hamlin was taken off the field at Paycor Stadium in an ambulance on Monday night. Coach Sean McDermott, quarterback Josh Allen, center Mitch Morse and Jackson all spoke to the media during news conferences filled with a variety of emotions and raw feelings about what this week has been like and how the team has felt comfortable preparing to play the New England Patriots on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
The Bills received updates on Hamlin’s condition from general manager Brandon Beane and head athletic trainer Nate Breske, who remained in Cincinnati with Hamlin and his family. The 24-year-old safety is now beginning to awaken as he shows “substantial improvement” in his recovery, per doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Thursday. Hamlin is still considered critically ill and has many steps ahead, but it does appear that his neurological condition is intact, according to his doctors.
The emotional response to seeing Hamlin collapse on the field was captured on the broadcast and in photos, and Allen said they will never forget the feelings of that moment.
“You lose sleep. You’re hurt for your brother,” Allen said. “A lot of shared grief but to the question before getting updates and positive updates, eases so much of that pain and that tension that you feel.
