Monday’s Week 17 finale between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals was supposed to be one of the biggest games of the season so far. After all, both of these AFC clubs are among the contenders to win the Super Bowl in prime-time affairs with legitimate playoff stakes, including the conference’s No. 1 seed and his AFC North title. It was set to collide. – Hanging on balance.
In about half a quarter, we got it. That was until a Bengals wideout tackle Tee Higgins on him, followed by Bills safety his Dummer Hamlin collapsed on the field with him 5:58 left in the first quarter. Hamlin initially got up after the play, but then he fell on the field and needed immediate medical attention. He fell to the ground for several minutes and reportedly underwent CPR before being taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
This caused a temporary suspension of play, and after a discussion on the field between head coaches Sean McDermott and Zach Taylor, players from both teams headed to the locker room. At 10 p.m. ET (about an hour after Hamlin’s collapse), the NFL announced the postponement of the game. In its statement, the league noted that Hamlin was in critical condition.
The league has since held a conference call with Troy Vincent, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations, and Jeff Miller, Executive Vice President of Communications, to detail the process leading up to the postponement and other updates. Did. Here are some of the most notable developments from the conference call.
No updates for Hamlin: Miller told reporters he would not provide any medical updates on Hamlin.That statement was made after UC Medical Center officials After 11 p.m. ET, it said it would not provide an update on Monday night.
No game status updates: Miller added that he will not be relaying any updates on whether or when this game will resume, nor the logistics behind the games scheduled for Week 18 in Buffalo and Cincinnati.
Vincent said neither the head coach nor the players talked about restarting the game (h/t NFL Media): “It was really about Damar. … See, I’ve never seen anything like it, so my player’s hat came on right away.”
Vincent has denied the NFL suggested a five-minute warm-up period after Hamlin’s collapse mentioned in the broadcast (h/t CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones): “I don’t know where it came from. Frankly there was no time for the players to warm up. Frankly the only thing we asked was [referee] Sean [Smith] Get in touch with both coaches to make sure you have the right amount of time in the locker room and discuss what works best. So I’m not sure where the five minute warmup came from. It never really crossed my mind personally. did not float. that’s ridiculous. it is insensitive. And that’s not where we should be. “
The NFL was listening through the referee’s microphone as he spoke with both coaches about returning to the locker room.h/t NFL media): “It was fluid, things were changing by the minute… Emotions were very high. It was a very precarious situation.”
Zach Taylor and Sean McDermott’s Vincent (h/t NFL media): “I commend both coaches. It’s a difficult situation to go back to the locker room and look at 53 men and try to calm people down. Emotions are obviously running very high on the phone.” It was a very precarious situation…the coach was leading their locker room.”
Invoice travel plan: Vincent said the Bills will return to Buffalo on Monday night, but some players are choosing to stay in Cincinnati to be near Hamlin.