Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - If Thursday wasn't enough of an emotional boost for the Buffalo Bills with regards to the latest news and updates with safety Damar Hamlin, Friday certainly was.
According to a statement released by the Bills on Friday, Hamlin had his breathing tube removed overnight by medical personnel at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and has continued to show remarkable progress in his recovery.
In addition, the team said Hamlin continues to show that his neurologic function remains intact, and is now able to speak to his family and medical personnel on-hand.
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While Hamlin is not able to speak all to much, given his breathing tube had just been removed, he made sure to pay a special visit to his teammates and coaches in Orchard Park on Friday via FaceTime, to show he's well and express his love for his team.
"Probably won't be able to do it justice, honestly, with the words. Amazing, touching," said Bills head coach Sean McDermott during his Friday Zoom call with the Buffalo media. "To see Damar, No. 1, through my own eyes, I know that's something I've been looking forward to, kind of needing to see, I guess - I hate to say it that way, it sounds bad."
McDermott says the team during Friday's meeting had no idea what was coming, as the head coach wanted to make sure Hamlin was actually going to be able to join the meeting with a special call in.
"When I said that we had a treat in store, you could see the look in their eyes in anticipation of what was probably coming in," McDermott said. "And then to get the Zoom and when he came on the screen... to see the players' reaction, they stood up right away and clapped for him and yelled some things to him. It was a pretty cool exchange for a few seconds there."
"Today in that team meeting, the hair on the back of my neck stood up when he said, 'I love you, boys,'" said Bills general manager Brandon Beane. "The room went nuts, it was awesome."
Although the interaction with his teammates was not long, McDermott knows that Hamlin's presence back the hearts and the minds of his teammates was enough to get his group fired up and in a brighter mindset than much earlier in the week.
"He made hand signals, hand gestures. The thing that makes me laugh is he [flexed] right away, he flexed on them, I guess. He's just got some staple things that they know him for and that he does, and he made the heart symbol probably more than anything, and then he gave them a thumbs up," McDermott recalled of the call. "And then somewhere in the midst of that, and it was a little bit hard to hear, but he said, 'Love you boys.' And, of course, I think that got the guys."
McDermott gives credit to one of his assistants, Matt Worswick, as he helped set up the call with assistant trainer Tabani Richards. Worswick was able to put Hamlin on the big screen for the players, which injected even more energy into the room when he made the call into the meeting.
"He was larger than life in there for us," McDermott said.
Hear more from McDermott's Zoom call on Friday available in the player below: