After watching Damar Hamlin go down in terrifying fashion Monday night, Sean McDermott instantly was no longer interested in coaching a football game.
The Bills head coach expressed as much to his Week 17 counterpart, Zac Taylor, as the pair convened after the Buffalo safety left Paycor Stadium in an ambulance. Hamlin needed to have his heartbeat restored on the field before he made his way to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
“I need to be at the hospital with Damar. I shouldn’t be coaching this game,” Taylor on Wednesday recalled McDermott saying after Hamlin’s frightening collapse, per Spectrum News 1’s Rachel Hopmayer.
According to ESPN and “Monday Night Football” play-by-man Joe Buck, the NFL initially was hoping to have the Bills and the Bengals resume play after a five-minute regroup period. Troy Vincent, the league’s vice president of football operations, vehemently denied the report a few hours after Hamlin’s injury, calling the claim “ridiculous” and “insensitive.”
The Bills-Bengals contest ultimately was postponed roughly an hour after Hamlin went down and the NFL on Tuesday confirmed it will not be resumed this week. Week 18 is set to play on as scheduled, but that plan is not set in stone. Buffalo will welcome the playoff-hopeful New England Patriots to Highmark Stadium on Sunday, while Cincinnati will host the Baltimore Ravens.
As for Hamlin, a Wednesday afternoon update from the Bills revealed the 24-year-old showed “signs of improvement” Tuesday but he’s expected to remain under intensive care.
