While the NFL world is still trying to understand what happened to Damar Hamlin during Monday Night Football, teams have returned to practice ahead of Week 18. Hamlin's progress and a recent plethora of good news have made it easier for everybody to return to normal, although the concern remains.
But for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills, things are not the same. Not only did they not finish the game, but they'll have to live with the images they've seen for a long time. If a completely normal football play can almost kill one of their teammates, they may feel more scared every time they step onto the field.
For the players involved in the play, the scars are even deeper. Bengals receiver Tee Higgins did nothing out of the norm, but he was the one that Hamlin hit before the collapse. A person can feel for him even more, but some have been harassing him like he was responsible for what happened.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen went out of his way in Thursday's news conference to make sure that Higgins deserves absolutely no hate for what happened, as it was a regular play.
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"I do want to say one more thing. I haven't reached out to Tee. I saw some stuff on Twitter. People shouldn't be attacking him whatsoever," Allen said. "And I'm glad that Damar's family came out and said that. Hopefully, he found some relief today. Because, again, that's a football play. I hope that he doesn't hold that upon himself.
"Because, again, there's nothing else that he could've done in that situation."
A very classy move by Allen, getting the facts right about the play. Higgins is surely feeling sad enough that he was involved; he doesn't need to be harassed as he did nothing wrong.
Damar Hamlin injury: Safety is neurologically intact
As close to death as he was, he's recovering as well as one can after a cardiac arrest three days ago. He has awakened, he has movement in his hands and feet and he's also communicating via writing, even asking the doctors who won the game.
The best news that came on Thursday is that he's neurologically intact and there is no damage to his brain, which is because of the treatment given by the first responders. He remains in critical condition, but is slowly improving.
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