Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott speaks for first time since Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott claimed that Damar Hamlin would want the team to play Sunday as he and quarterback Josh Allen spoke to the media for the first time Thursday following the safety’s cardiac arrest Monday.

The safety is ‘awake’ and has made ‘substantial improvement’ after suffering a cardiac arrest during Monday’s game against the Bengals.

Speaking at the Bills first media availability since the incident, McDermott revealed the news has been ‘encouraging’ and claimed the team was grateful for the updates from the medical staff at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Hamlin has been in intensive care.  

Damar Hamlin is awake and showing signs of improvement after suffering a cardiac arrest and being resuscitated during Monday’s Bills-Bengals game in Cincinnati

Head coach Sean McDermott spoke for the first time and welcomed the ‘encouraging’ news

 ‘We’ve been getting incremental updates from our staff in Cincinnati, they’ve been there the whole time and giving us updates,’ said McDermott. 

‘Damar’s doctors have been giving our doctors updates. The news has been very encouraging up to this point and we’re very grateful.’

The head coach also took the time to thank a number of people from the first responders to the Bengals organization, who the Bills faced in a pivotal game on Monday Night Football. 

‘I’d like to thank a number of people,’ he began. ‘There have been a number of people involved and if we leave someone out, we apologize. We’d like to thank the first responders, the staff, doctors and nurses at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, [more names]. 

McDermott also took the opportunity to thank the first responders and the Bengals team 

‘I’d also like to thank the entire Bengals organization, their ownership, and specifically Zach Taylor, their staff, their players, for going above and beyond. The officiating crew on the field, led by Sean Smith, and the way they handled that situation with extreme poise, certainly helped. 

‘Both Roger Goodell and Troy Vincent, fans of both the Bills and the Bengals, as well as the many other fans and organizations we’ve heard from over the past three days. 

‘And finally I’d like to thank you, the media, for the respect as we deal with this. Finally, just as important as anything, glory to God for keeping Damar and his family in the palm of his hand.’ 

The team’s quarterback Allen sat alongside McDermott as the press conference and had the highest praise for his coach for his handling of the traumatic events on Monday night. 

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen had nothing but praise for his coach’s actions Monday night 

‘The way he handled it,’ Allen began. ‘He was the perfect man in that situation, I can’t say enough about him in that situation, what he said to us in the locker room, a dire situation that no-one is ready for. 

‘You can never put yourself in that situation until it happens. Our training staff are going out there not knowing what’s going on, working as a single cell, saving his life. Being on the field… you lose sleep. The coach handled it as well as anyone could.’

The scene just replays over and over in your head. It is hard to answer that question and actually describe how I felt and how my teammates felt in that moment. To know that Damar is doing okay, there’s still a lot of stuff that he has to process and go through to get back to himself. We heard that news this morning and there’s nothing that could be said to us to bring our day down. We just want to love up on him. If we get to see him any time soon, it’s going to be awesome. 

More to follow.