Bills' Damar Hamlin: Cleared for football activities
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GM Brandon Beane noted Tuesday that Hamlin, who suffered cardiac arrest during a Jan. 2 game against the Bengals, has been fully cleared to return to playing football, Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN reports.
"He is fully cleared," Beane said of the 25-year-old, adding that Hamlin is "in a great headspace to make his return." Getzenberg also relays that Hamlin, who saw his last specialist Friday, is present and participating in the Bills' current voluntary workouts, which started Monday. As Hamlin continues to progress in his remarkable recovery, he'll be a candidate to rejoin Buffalo's secondary this coming season and bolster the depth of a safety corps that features Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Return to play a possibility
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Hamlin continues to progress from his cardiac arrest suffered Jan. 2 and has recovered enough that he's hoping to return to the NFL in the future, Alec White of the Bills' official site reports. Said general manager Brandon Bean this week, "He's dialed in. He definitely has every intention to play. He's got, I know of one more visit, but I think they'll get wrapped up by sometime in April, as it stands now."
Hamlin still has a long road ahead and will need to work through several steps of clearance, but it's beyond encouraging that the discussion has turned to football just a couple of months after his life was at stake. It's unclear if Hamlin will have any restrictions if he does return to action in 2023, where he'd likely serve as a depth safety for the Bills behind Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: More good news
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Hamlin was discharged from a Buffalo-area hospital Tuesday and will be allowed to continue his recovery from home, the Bills' official site reports.
This is simply the best possible outcome for Hamlin, the Bills and pretty much the entire football world after what happened on the field just over a week ago. While Hamlin was placed on IR three days ago, we wouldn't be surprised if he's able to at least be around his teammates at some point during the Bills' playoff march, which begins Sunday against Miami. We should know in a few months whether Hamlin will be allowed to resume his football career.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Placed on IR
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The Bills placed Hamlin on injured reserve Friday.
The roster move officially ends Hamlin's season, but more importantly, the reports regarding the 24-year-old safety's recovery from the cardiac incident he suffered in Monday's game against the Bengals -- which has since been postponed -- have been increasingly positive in recent days. The Bills announced earlier Friday that Hamlin, who remains in intensive care at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, had his breathing tube removed overnight and has since resumed speaking with his family and doctors, as well as with his teammates virtually. Hamlin's care team has also noted that his neurological function remains intact, but at this stage, his physicians have said that it's too early in his recovery process to know whether he'll be able to resume his football career.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Making progress in recovery
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The Bills announced in a statement released Friday that University of Cincinnati Health physicians removed Hamlin's breathing tube overnight, and that the 24-year-old "continues to progress remarkably in his recovery."
Hamlin is addressing teammates via Facetime for the first time from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Friday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The team's statement affirms that Hamlin has also been able to speak with his family and care team, and that "his neurologic function remains intact."
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Shows responsiveness at hospital
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Two University of Cincinnati Health physicians provided a positive update on Hamlin's status Thursday, noting that the 24-year-old has "made substantial improvement in his condition over the past 24 hours," Alec White of the Bills' official site reports.
Specifically, physicians William Knight IV and Timothy Pritts said that Hamlin is awake and has been responsive with the ability to move both his hands and feet. Additionally, his neurological condition and function appears to be intact after he suffered cardiac arrest during Monday's game against the Bengals. The doctors relayed that Hamlin is still intubated to assist with breathing, and the next step in his recovery will be for him to advance to breathing on his own. While Knight and Pritts noted that the best-case scenario is for Hamlin to eventually return to the health level he was at before he suffered the cardiac arrest Monday, both doctors cautioned that it's too early in the young safety's recovery process to determine if it's feasible for him to resume his playing career.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Condition continuing to improve
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The Bills announced in a statement released Thursday that Hamlin has shown "remarkable improvement" in his recovery from the cardiac incident he suffered in Monday's game against the Bengals and "is making steady progress."
Though the statement notes that Hamlin is still considered "critically ill," the 24-year-old safety's lungs are continuing to heal, and he "has demonstrated that he appears to be neurologically intact."
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Signs of improvement noted
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Hamlin remains in the intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition with signs of improvement noted Tuesday and overnight, according to an official statement from the Bills released Wednesday.
Per the team's statement, the 24-year-old safety, who suffered from cardiac arrest following a hit during Monday's game versus the Bengals, is expected to remain in the ICU as his health care team continues to monitor and treat him.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Taken off in ambulance
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Hamlin was tended to on the field by medical personnel before being loaded into an ambulance during Monday's game against Cincinnati, Ben Baby of ESPN.com reports
Hamlin went down after sustaining a hit to the head and neck area in the first quarter, and he was immediately tended to on the field by members of both teams' medical staff. He was then given CPR by emergency medical personnel before being loaded into an ambulance via stretcher, according to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Records double-digit tackles
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Hamlin had 11 tackles (eight solo) in Sunday's 33-30 overtime loss to the Vikings.
Hamlin has racked up 10 or more tackles in each of his last three matchups, and he also logged a season high in snaps with 78 in Week 10. The Pittsburgh product has recorded 62 tackles (46 solo) and 1.5 sacks through nine contests in 2022.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Double-digit tackles Sunday
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Hamlin tallied 10 tackles (four solo) during Sunday's 27-17 victory over the Packers.
Hamlin logged a season high in tackles as he continued to serve as Buffalo's starting free safety with Micah Hyde (neck) sidelined for the remainder of the season. The 24-year-old has now recorded 39 tackles (30 solo) and 0.5 sacks over seven games in his second NFL season. Hamlin should put up another prolific stat line against the Jets this coming Sunday.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Seven solo tackles in win
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Hamlin recorded seven solo tackles during Sunday's 24-20 win over the Chiefs.
With Micah Hyde (neck) sidelined, Hamlin has stepped up as the Bills' starting free safety, recording 26 tackles and half a sack across his last four appearances. Buffalo has a Week 7 bye, so the second-year safety will look to continue his strong play against the Packers in Week 8.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Another eight-tackle game Sunday
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Hamlin recorded eight tackles (six solo) during Sunday's 38-3 win over the Steelers.
For a second consecutive week, Hamlin logged eight stops en route to a Buffalo victory. With Micah Hyde (neck) expected to miss the rest of the 2022 campaign with a neck injury, Hamlin figures to continue serving as one of the team's starting safeties alongside Jordan Poyer, who has already missed two games this year with foot and rib injuries. The 24-year-old Hamlin's next chance to shine comes Sunday in Kansas City.
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Bills' Damar Hamlin: Big test awaits
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Hamlin is expected to start at safety with both starters -- Michael Hyde (neck) and Jordan Poyer (foot) -- out of commission for Sunday's game against the Dolphins.
Hamlin hasn't seen much action on defense after being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 Draft (59 snaps in total), but he'll have a big opportunity to show that he's ready for more responsibility if he can help the depleted Bills slow down what's become a strong Miami passing attack.
