‘The league said some of the factors in coming to its decision included that “not playing the Buffalo-Cincinnati game to its conclusion will have no effect on which clubs qualify for the postseason. No club would qualify for the postseason and no club will be eliminated based on the outcome of this game.”’
Archives for January 2023
Bills Uplifted By Hamlin’s Progress, Hope To Show Resilience
‘“As teammates, you love hearing that response, that the first thing on his mind wasn’t, you know, ‘Poor me.’ It was, ‘How are my teammates doing?’” Allen said. “For Damar to go through that and to come out on the other side and still, again, just thinking about his teammates, that’s Damar. That’s who he is.”’
Bills-Bengals game will not resume amid Damar Hamlin’s continued recovery
‘In announcing the decision to cancel the game, the NFL cited three key factors: The outcome would have no bearing on which teams qualified for the postseason; playing the game would have altered the playoff schedule for the remaining teams; and not playing the game would allow all clubs to know the postseason possibilities before the start of Week 18.’
Positive Damar Hamlin update ‘eases’ Bills’ pain, tension
‘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.’
What should NFL do about suspended Bills-Bengals game? With no precedent, here are the options, and best path
‘There is no precedent for what the NFL is facing right now. Never before has an NFL game started, been postponed and never resumed, according to CBS Sports research. And not since 1935 has the league had a season where some teams play more games than others, when Philadelphia and Boston each played 11 games in a 12-game schedule, with their game being canceled due to bad weather.’
Damar Hamlin updates: Bills safety making ‘remarkable’ recovery, now communicating with doctors
‘”We had significant concern about him after the injury, but he is making substantial progress,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, told reporters via conference call. “As of (Thursday) morning, he is beginning to awaken, and it appears that his neurologic function is intact.”‘
Josh Allen, Sean McDermott say Bills are ready to ‘play for’ Damar Hamlin: He’s a ‘huge driving force’
‘”Mario, [Hamlin’s father], talking to us as a team, he kinda told us — demanded us — [to play for his son], and you can’t not honor his request to go out there and charge forward to the best of our abilities,” Allen said. “Today’s news was a lot of tears of joy, but … that’s what he wants, that’s what his dad wants, and guys are excited to get out there. … We wanna go out there and play for 3. It’ll be a huge driving force.”‘
NFL cancels Bills-Bengals game, plans vote Friday to implement two major modifications for AFC playoffs
‘Under the proposal that will be voted on by owners, the AFC Championship could potentially become a neutral-site game if any of the three following scenarios are met…’.
Bills’ Damar Hamlin asked if his team beat the Bengals when he woke up, doctors say
‘”While still critically ill, he has demonstrated that he appears to be neurologically intact,” the Bills said in a statement on Thursday. “His lungs continue to heal and he is making steady progress.”‘
Josh Allen Defends Tee Higgins After Collision With Damar Hamlin
‘“I do want to say one more thing: I haven’t reached out to Tee [Higgins]. I saw some stuff on Twitter. People should not be attacking him, whatsoever, and I’m glad that Damar’s family came out and said that,” Allen said. “Hopefully, he found some relief today because, again, that’s a football play. And I hope that he doesn’t hold that upon himself because there’s nothing else that he could have done in that situation.”’
Bills Tweet Positive Update on Damar Hamlin: ‘Remarkable Improvement’
‘“Per the physicians caring for Damar Hamlin at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Damar has shown remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours,” the team said in its statement. “While still critically ill, he has demonstrated that he appears to be neurologically intact. His lungs continue to heal and he is making steady progress.”’
NFLPA Pres. Questions How Long It Took to Postpone Bills-Bengals Game
‘“In times when a leader needs to make a decision, when you take a bunch of time to ask everybody else what their opinion would be, it seems more like you’re searching for the answer you want and not what the right answer actually is,” Tretter said, via Yahoo Sports. “We made the determination it wouldn’t be smart to continue playing the moment we saw what happened and how scary that was. Obviously, as we all know, it took a long time for that to actually go into effect.”’
The Bills Believe They Are Ready for Sunday. They Know They Have Changed.
‘There were moments of incredible, unfathomable maturity, like when Allen called the press conference back in session momentarily, just to tell folks to lay off Tee Higgins, the Bengals receiver who was tackled by Hamlin in the moments preceding his collapse. Or, when center Mitch Morse talked about the complexities of the grieving process, where 90 people in the building could all be experiencing what happened in 90 different ways. Even the mental fitness to make it through a packed NFL press conference, an exercise in patience and humility on a good day as reporters cut you off and shout over the end of a heartfelt sentiment, didn’t go unnoticed.’
NFL Decides Bills-Bengals ‘MNF’ Game Will Not Resume
‘In regards to how the cancellation affects the AFC playoff implications, ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported that the NFL owners are set to meet on Friday to go over scenarios. Here’s a list of the possible scenarios as of now.’
Damar Hamlin Asked Who Won Bills-Bengals Game When He Woke Up
‘“When [Hamlin] asked, ‘Did we win?,’ the answer is, ‘Yes ‘Damar, you won. You’ve won the game of life,’” Pritts said. “That’s probably the most important thing out of this and we really need to keep him in the center of everything else that’s going on and we really want to ensure a good outcome for him.”’