BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns returned to work Wednesday to begin preparations for their season finale in Pittsburgh, but understandably the Steelers weren’t the only thing on their minds.
Players have spent the last 36-plus hours checking their phones regularly for updates on Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who had to be revived by medical personnel on the field after suffering cardiac arrest Monday night in Cincinnati.
“We are all praying for him,” running back Nick Chubb said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Hamlin remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit at a Cincinnati hospital but has shown positive signs of progress according to the Bills.
“It's heartbreaking,” cornerback Greg Newsome II said.
Tight end David Njoku paused several times while answering questions about Hamlin.
“It just shows you that we really put our body, mind, and soul on the line every single play,” Njoku said. “I've been praying for his family and him as well. I’m just speechless. All we can do is just pray, Do whatever we can do to help and just pray.”
Head coach Kevin Stefanski spoke with his team Wednesday morning about what took place Monday night before beginning the process of preparing his team with a gameplan to face the Steelers Sunday.
“It is hard,” Stefanski said.
“I don’t know that there is a right way to do all of that. First and foremost, you just are respectful of the situation. Every single one of us is thinking about this young man and his family. Then we are also going to do our job, and it doesn’t mean we are going to stop thinking about that.”
Like every other team in the NFL, the Browns have made professional resources available to players to help them deal with what happened to Hamlin.
As he always does, Stefanski is leaving his door open for them too.
“They know where my office is. They know their coaches are here for them,” Stefanski said. “I think the entire NFL world is processing and working through this, all of sports and all of us I am sure. Just being available.
“Our players, they know how I feel about them and how they battle.”
Hamlin collapsed on the field moments after getting up from a routine tackle of Bengals receiver Tee Higgins. Medical personnel rushed to his aid where they administered CPR and used a defibrillator after he went into cardiac arrest.
An ambulance was brought onto the field and Hamlin was transported to a local hospital where he remains.
The NFL has over 30 medical professionals, which include specialists and trainers, on site for every game. Every team drills a medical emergency at their stadiums for exactly the type of situation that unfolded Monday night.
“The way it's been explained to me is, if there is a silver lining, it’s where this happened,” long snapper and Browns NFLPA player representative Charlie Hughlett said. “[It was] probably one of the best places for it to happen in terms of there being just so many medical professionals within feet of him ready to go. And I do think that that probably made the difference in saving his life.”
Hughlett serves as the conduit between the Browns locker room and the Player’s Association. His job is to relay information both ways and the events of this week have made his role challenging.
“I haven't even put on a helmet since I've found out, and so we're all still working through that and I'm sure we'll all do that in our own ways,” Hughlett said. “Everybody's emotions and thoughts right now are mainly on Damar and we're doing our best to focus on our job, which is Pittsburgh this week, and I just think that that's going to be a process that everybody goes through in their own way.”
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor spoke with Bills head coach Sean McDermott as it appeared the teams would get five minutes, which is standard league protocol in the event an injured player requires prolonged care on the field, to warm up to resume the game with Cincinnati leading 7-3.
Both teams went to the locker room instead and the game was suspended.
The NFL seems prepared to move forward with Week 18.
“From my understanding, there’s no imminent schedule changes or anything, but I do believe the whole league has just kind of wait and see and seeing how Damar recovers,” Hughlett said.
The Bengals are preparing for the Ravens while the Bills worry about the health of their teammate and brother while having to play the Patriots Sunday.
There have been no discussions among Browns players about not playing this weekend.
“I think that we still have a job to do,” Njoku said. “Obviously the main focus is just to make sure that he is OK. We check every day, every hour on the hour just to make sure that he's OK. but at the same time, we have a job to do that we have to do.”
Focusing on the job at hand this week won’t be easy.
“It's definitely going to be tough to finish out this last game and just go on the field knowing that there's somebody out there that is in a life-or-death situation,” Newsome said. “Definitely going to be very tough and hopefully that's why we got our guys around us and we can all talk through it and things like that, but it'll for sure be tough.”
In the wake of Hamlin’s life-threatening situation, fans and members of the NFL community have been donating to Hamlin’s GoFundMe he set up for a toy drive.
“People are starting to see that we aren't just football players, we're humans,” Newsome said. “And I feel like an event like that, what happened shows that we're humans first. I'm glad they stopped the game and it just shows that we are humans and we try to go out there and put on a show, but at the end of the day, our safety and our life matters.”
When Hamlin originally set the account up, he had hoped to raise $2,500. Well over $6 million in donations have poured in since Monday night.
“That makes my heart warm man, and it makes me very happy that people are trying to do whatever they can to help,” Njoku said.