Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is reportedly making great strides in his recovery — just weeks after a scary moment on the field during a Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hamlin underwent cardiac arrest and received CPR on the field, after which he was rushed to a nearby hospital. The game was first paused, then postponed — and then the NFL announced that the game would not be rescheduled but the playoffs would go on as planned.
The safety was transferred to a hospital in Buffalo about a week later, and then released to recover at home — but Bills head coach Sean McDermott says that Hamlin has been at the practice facility “almost daily” and is “just trying to get back to a little bit of a routine.”
"Damar's in the building, almost starting daily, getting himself acclimated again."
Sean McDermott says that Damar Hamlin is taking it one step at a time 🙌
🎥: @CBSSports pic.twitter.com/RBg4FpZTHk
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) January 18, 2023
“That’s good news,” McDermott continued, noting that Hamlin had just started coming into the building a few days later. “He comes in and really just started — really today or yesterday — and just trying to get back to a little bit of a routine and getting himself acclimated again and taking it one step, you know, baby step at a time here.”
McDermott also fielded questions about the team’s eight-game winning streak — and the fact that the last three games had resulted in more turnovers than the previous five. The coach laughed and attributed the slip in performance to the fact that he hadn’t been going to church quite as often.
WATCH:
Bills coach Sean McDermott on what is going differently lately regarding turnovers: "I think I was going to church more then than I have been of late."
After winning despite three turnovers last week, he jokes, "I'll be there twice this week." pic.twitter.com/gG2jEfNTPs
— Nick Veronica (@NickVeronica) January 18, 2023
“I think I was going to church more then than I have been of late,” he said, joking, “I’ll be there twice this week.”
As for Hamlin, it is not yet known whether he will be in attendance at the Bills’ next playoff game — which pits the team against Cincinnati once again. McDermott says that the decision is one that likely won’t be made until the very last minute.
“[He’s] just kind of getting himself — dipping his toe back in here, and, you know, getting on the road to just getting back to himself,” he explained.
Hamlin has been watching his team play — from the hospital first, and then from home — tweeting his thoughts and even setting off alarms when he watched from the hospital bed.