Bills Receive Encouraging Message From Damar Hamlin’s Father

As the Bills deal with a wide range of emotions in wake of Monday’s traumatic incident, the team had its spirits raised Wednesday.

Mario Hamlin, the father of Damar, addressed the AFC East champions over Zoom two days after his son suffered from cardiac arrest on the Paycor Stadium field. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Mario Hamlin’s personal update included a note that the 24-year-old is “making progress.”

This update is in lockstep with the one announced Wednesday afternoon by the Bills, who acknowledged the second-year safety is making “improvement” in his recovery. The statement also confirmed Damar Hamlin still was in intensive care after he needed to be resuscitated twice following a first-quarter collision in the postponed Bills-Bengals contest.

As for Buffalo, it’s in line to return to game action Sunday when it hosts the New England Patriots, although it’s not a complete certainty the divisional matchup is played as scheduled. Uncertainty — albeit far more — also hovers over the aforementioned Bills-Bengals game, a contest that carries significant AFC playoff implications.