ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Three days after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field during a Monday night game in Cincinnati, Josh Allen tried to find the words to describe what he saw.
"It's hard to answer that question and actually describe how I felt, all my teammates felt, in that moment," Allen said during a Thursday afternoon news conference, which marked the first time the team addressed the media since that medical emergency shook the NFL.
"It's something we'll never forget, but to know that Damar is doing OK, I know there's still a lot of a lot of things we need to go through to get back."
Bills coach Sean McDermott said he was grateful for the quick response on the field. Just as important, he said, was the heartfelt response from Western New York and the entire NFL as Hamlin received treatment at the University of Cincinnati Health in the hours and days that followed.
"The amount of faith, hope and love that we saw on this play over the last few days. nothing short of amazing," McDermott said.
Doctors treating Hamlin in Cincinnati said the second-year player had made "substantial improvement" during past 24 hours.
McDermott grew emotional when talking about the progress Hamlin had made in recent days.
“It’s amazing to me to know the impact that this has had on so many people,” McDermott said. “And for now, Damar to be awake and his mom to be able to share that with him is incredible.”
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