January 6, 2023 news on NFL star Damar Hamlin’s condition

Our live coverage has wrapped up for the day. You can read more about Hamlin here.

Friday brought more hopeful news about the recovery of hospitalized NFL player Damar Hamlin, who is no longer relying on a breathing tube, according to his medical team.

Here’s what we’ve learned about the health of the Buffalo Bills safety, who remains in treatment at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center:

The NFL on Friday announced a series of actions aimed at supporting Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.

According to the NFL, each team across the league will have the opportunity to participate in the following actions during week 18:

The Buffalo Bills have placed safety Damar Hamlin on the injured reserve list, the team announced Friday.

The move effectively ends Hamlin’s season after he suffered a cardiac arrest during the team’s Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Being placed on the injured reserve list means a player cannot play for at least four games.

The Bills also announced on Friday they have activated cornerback Christian Benford. 

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking for the first time since Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin was injured on Monday night, said Hamlin’s improving health has “lifted not only my spirits but the spirits of the entire league.”

Goodell was an unannounced speaker at a media availability with the NFL’s Competition Committee on Friday to discuss the league owners approving an unprecedented post-season plan following the cancellation of Monday night’s Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game. 

“I know this was a trying week for everyone including those on this Zoom [call]. Thank you for doing what you do as we head into our last weekend of the regular season,” Goodell said in closing remarks to reporters on Friday.

The NFL owners have approved an unprecedented postseason plan following the cancellation of Monday night’s Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game.

The league held a special virtual meeting with all 32 team owners or their designee on Friday to determine possible playoff scenarios now that two teams, the Bills and Bengals, will have played fewer regular season games than the rest of the league.

The NFL owners approved the unique plan to host the AFC Championship game at a neutral site if the participating teams played an unequal number of games and both teams could have been a potential top seed if the Bills-Bengals game had been played to its conclusion.

The owners also approved a plan to use a coin flip to determine the home field for a possible Wild Card round game between the Bengals and Baltimore Ravens.

The scenarios vote needed at least 24 of the 32 owners to approve the resolutions to pass.

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins could barely contain his excitement when he was asked what it was like for the team to see Damar Hamlin again on a video call Friday morning.

“We got our boy, man!!! That’s all that matters! We got our boy!” an excited Dawkins said Friday afternoon in a call with reporters. “The excitement was beautiful, it was amazing. It has given us so much energy, so much bright, high spirits, whatever you want to call it, it has given it to us to see that boy’s face. To see him smile, to see him go like this (flexes biceps) in the camera, it was everything.”

“And then to hear him talk to us, it was everything, and that’s what we needed. Literally, that’s all we needed.”

Dawkins described the past week’s emotions as “a rollercoaster, but a rollercoaster that’s never been ridden.”

“You really go from the saddest you can really feel to the happiest you can feel in a short, drastic time,” Dawkins said. “The saddest is the saddest of the sad where you really don’t know what to do.”

“It’s far from over, but the good thing about it is it’s a positive energy for whatever rollercoaster you want to call it,” he continued. “We’re on a positive ride right now, where we got to see our guy, and we got to see #3 (Hamlin) smile and that’s literally all we wanted, you know? He’s here with us, and that’s all we can ask for is that he’s taking steps forward.”

“It’s still very emotional for a lot of guys, and we’re happy, we’re blessed and extremely thankful,” Dawkins added.

When asked about Hamlin’s toy drive foundation going over $7 million in donations, Dawkins responded with an emphatic: “It’s super lit!”

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with the correct byline.

Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane, who remained in Cincinnati until Tuesday night with Damar Hamlin, said he had simple reasoning for staying behind.

“What would you want someone to do for your son?” said Beane, who has two boys himself. 

Beane said he and head coach Sean McDermott decided Monday night that the general manager would stay in Cincinnati while McDermott would stay with the team.

Beane said the coach wanted to stay with Hamlin as well, but the two leaders had only minutes to decide and opted to divide up leadership duties. McDermott needed to lead the coaches and team because they didn’t know how long the hospitalization would last, the general manager explained.

Beane said he learned more about Hamlin through time spent with his family and friends, especially the safety’s parents.

“Mario and Nina (Hamlin), just being near them these last few days, they should put a handbook together on how to deal with a life-threatening situation with your child,” Beane said Friday. “I was in awe just watching their strength through such difficult up and down moments, and it was a pleasure to be a part and to see how they handled it. I don’t believe I would have handled it with the same strength if that was my son.”

He also said he was impressed with the medical team, including their bedside manner — providing hugs and also having tears in their eyes.

Beane, who is now back in Orchard Park, New York, said he was sad he wouldn’t be there when Hamlin walks out of the hospital.

He later added that he will “forever remember this team” and that he’s not sure if he’ll ever be more proud of a team than this one.

Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane voiced his appreciation Friday for the support from across the NFL community over the past week in the wake of the life-threatening injury to safety Damar Hamlin.

“I think, as I mentioned earlier, it says a lot about our league that we’re all competitive and we’re all trying to win every single thing, trying to win the draft, trying to win games, and ultimately trying to a championship fighting against each other,” Beane said. “This week every team changed their logo on their social media page to pray for Damar, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.”

“And, yeah we go to battle, but in the end life is the number-one battle, and to see that unity from players, coaches, GMs, owners, fans is unheard of. But I think it’s a good light, it sheds a great light on the NFL. The NFL is truly a family,” he added.

Beane also gave a preview of the team’s plans for Sunday’s game against the Patriots.

“As far as this weekend, we’re working on things. We definitely have the (jersey) patch, and try and honor some of the people that helped keep Damar alive and their roles. We do have some various things, we’re still talking through the exactly run of show, but I think it’s going to be a nice deal,” he said, making a reference to the Bills wearing jerseys with patches of Hamlin’s number on them.

As Damar Hamlin continues his recovery in a Cincinnati hospital, the NFL’s final slate of regular season games will take place Saturday and Sunday.

CNN reported Thursday that the league had plans to recognize Hamlin’s situation on and off the field this weekend, and the NFL outlined those gestures in a news release Friday.

They will include:

The Bills shared a photo of their No. 3 patches on Twitter shortly after the NFL released its plans:

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane praised the team’s medical staff and gave an update on their roles in caring for Damar Hamlin on Friday.

McDermott said Beane and head athletic trainer Nate Breske have returned to the team from Cincinnati, while assistant athletic trainer Tabani Richards remains with Hamlin at the hospital.

Beane reiterated his coach’s praise of the Bills’ medical staff.

“The Bills medical team, the guys who have been mentioned led by Nate Breske, Denny (Kellington) is obviously trending on Twitter, which is good for him,” Beane said, with a chuckle. “Tabani is back there, and all those guys, our docs did a great job.”

“One person that probably hasn’t been mentioned is Kori (Reblin), one of our equipment guys who had to get there and get his facemask off so they could work on him, and not easy when you see the situation Damar’s in,” Beane told reporters.

Speaking about Kellington’s sudden celebrity status after he performed life-saving CPR on Hamlin, McDermott said he heard a show host on a country music radio station talking about the Bills assistant trainer during his commute Friday morning. He said he shared a laugh with Kellington about that at the team facility.

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott says players were told there was a treat in store for them Friday — and when Damar Hamlin showed up on FaceTime, “they stood up right away and clapped for him,” McDermott told reporters.

McDermott was also asked about the task of getting his team locked in for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.

“We’ve been working on that,” McDermott said. “There’s different waves or hurdles we need to continue to cross as we inch toward the game here, and it is coming fast.”

He added that the number-one priority is the health and well-being of his players.

CNN has obtained audio of medical personnel that were working the sidelines at the time Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed at 8:55 p.m. ET on Monday night.

Medical personnel can be heard calling for everybody to assist and saying, “I don’t like how he went down” and “bring the cot with the medics.”

At 9:12 p.m. ET, a person can be heard asking for another medic to assist in the back of the ambulance.

At 9:20 p.m. ET, calls for an end-tidal carbon dioxide monitor can be heard, along with a sense of urgency for the driver of the ambulance to “step it up.”

Listen to the audio here:

The Buffalo Bills tweeted that Damar Hamlin’s breathing tube was removed overnight, according to doctors, and he’s been able to talk with his family and health care providers.

“He continues to progress remarkably in his recovery,” the team said.

The Bills said that Hamlin joined a team meeting via FaceTime and was able talk to players and coaches. “Love you boys,” he told the team.

University of Cincinatti Health doctors said Damar Hamlin has even asked who had won the game between his Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals in which he suffered cardiac arrest.

Hamlin has not spoken yet, said Dr. Timothy Pritts, so Hamlin’s communication has all been through writing.

“We are in the situation where we wanted to allow him to gradually wake up as the rest of his body was healing and last night, he was able to emerge and follow commands and even ask who had won the game,” he said.

“When he asked, ‘did we win?,’ the answer is, yes, you know, Damar, you won. You’ve won the game of life and that’s probably the important thing out of this, and we really need to keep him in the center of everything else that’s going on, and we really want to ensure a good outcome for him,” he said.

Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins told CNN on Friday that the team getting to hear from Damar Hamlin’s father on a video call earlier this week “took a whole bunch of weight off our shoulders.” 

“Seeing his father’s expression on his face, it was just honestly all we needed to see to take a giant step forward,” Dawkins told CNN’s Don Lemon.

Dawkins was asked if he thought the Bills would be ready to play this weekend. Here’s what he said:

“It’ll be so hard to speak for everybody, but I know that in the position that they have put us in, and from the messages that we’re getting back, and the responses that we’re getting from Cincinnati and his family, it’s putting us in a great arrow of direction … That’s honestly all we can ask for is just to be faced in the right direction and to just do it with high hopes. … (Head coach Sean) McDermott and the staff here, they’ve been doing such a great job of respecting the individual’s personal battles because we’re all going through personal battles with this situation.” 

The NFL is working on plans to recognize Damar Hamlin ahead of every NFL game scheduled for this upcoming weekend, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.

Those plans have not yet been finalized to honor the Buffalo Bills safety after he suffered a cardiac arrest during the “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.

The Buffalo Bills’ star quarterback Josh Allen grew emotional Thursday when thanking the medical staff for their swift response to Damar Hamlin’s collapse and for “saving his life.”

Allen, speaking at a news conference in Orchard Park, New York, paused to collect himself as he walked through the experience.

“But (getting) updates, and positive updates, eases so much of that pain and that tension that you feel,” the quarterback said.

“The scene just replays over and over in your head,” Allen said, when asked to reflect on his thoughts during the on-field medical response. “It’s hard to answer that question and actually describe how I felt, how my teammates felt in that moment.”

Allen credited head coach Sean McDermott for a “perfect” response in the locker room and in support of his players in the days since Hamlin’s collapse.

There has been a “remarkable improvement” in the health of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, his team said Thursday, with doctors saying the player’s “neurological condition and function is intact.”

Here are the major takeaways from yesterday’s news conference at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Hamlin has been treated since he collapsed Monday night: