Bengals coach Zac Taylor knew immediately the seriousness of Damar Hamlin’s situation by how concerned Bills players were, and after talking to Buffalo coach Sean McDermott in the moments after Hamlin collapsed on the field Monday night.
Shortly after the Bills safety went down and suffered cardiac arrest, McDermott told Taylor, “I need to be at the hospital for Damar. I shouldn’t be coaching this game,” Taylor told reporters on Wednesday in his first comments since the life-threatening incident.
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor speaks with the media, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in Cincinnati. AP
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott takes a knee is as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) is tended to on the field following a collision in the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. USA TODAY Sports“He really showed who he was. All his focus was on Damar.”
The Bengals coach also lauded the quick response from medical personnel, which administered CPR to Hamlin on the field before eventually stabilizing him enough for the ambulance to rush him to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Hamlin remains in critical condition. The 24-year-old has shown signs of improvement, the Bills said on Wednesday, and he is expected to remain in intensive care while continuing to be monitored and treated.
“All the medical professionals that were involved, the Bills’ trainers, the Bills’ doctors, our trainers, our doctors, the paramedics, the emergency response team, I thought that they were on it, they were composed, it was obviously a complicated situation on the field that everybody was trying to process,” Taylor said.
Taylor also praised the officials on the field for what was essentially an unprecedented situation.
Damar Hamlin after collapsing to the ground. AP
Head coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills, right, and head coach Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals speak during the suspension of their game. Getty Images“The officials, Shawn Smith and his crew, I thought they did a tremendous job handling a situation in which there’s no rulebook, there’s no protocols for how to handle that,” Taylor said. “They really did a good job. Everyone that was on the field could feel the seriousness of the situation and they did a great job of stepping back, asking the Bills what they needed, asking us what we needed, giving us the space to process, I thought they did a tremendous job.”
