FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater has played in 247 games over his 15 NFL seasons. He’s played in AFC Championships. Super Bowls. Season openers preceded by championship banner raisings.
He knows none of them will feel quite like this Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, N.Y.
This week’s game between New England and Buffalo at Highmark Stadium, assuming it is played as scheduled, will be the Bills’ first since safety Damar Hamlin collapsed from cardiac arrest Monday night in Cincinnati.
Josh Allen, Sean McDermott, Stefon Diggs and the rest of the Bills’ players and coaches watched, some from mere yards away, as on-site medical personnel revived Hamlin on the Paycor Stadium game field using CPR and an automated external defibrillator, then loaded him into an ambulance and rushed him to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he remained as of Thursday afternoon.
Following Thursday’s positive reports about Hamlin’s condition — he awoke for the first time and asked doctors whether the Bills had beaten the Bengals — it appears the NFL will not reschedule Sunday’s Week 18 clash between AFC East rivals.
Slater, who’s played in Buffalo more than a dozen times, is expecting an emotional atmosphere unlike any other — and, hopefully, one full of positivity about Hamlin’s progress.
“I expect it to be something that I’ve never experienced before,” Slater said Thursday. “You’re hoping that — and I say this with all honesty — you’re hoping that by the time we get to the game, it’s a little bit more of a joyous one where they’ve got some better news on Damar, and I think we’ll all feel better about it. I know our team will feel better about it and have a little bit more peace. I’m sure you guys covering it will feel better about it if we have some good news on him.
“I’m sure it’ll be something that none of us have ever really experienced. We’ll cross that road when we get to it. In the meantime, we’ll just continue to pray that the Lord is with Damar and he continues to improve.”
Safety Adrian Phillips said he’s anticipating “a super emotional environment” in the Bills’ home stadium. Cornerback Myles Bryant couldn’t even predict what the scene will be like.
“I don’t actually know what to expect,” Bryant said. “Going out there, the environment, the atmosphere, playing the team that just experienced that, you don’t quite know what you’re going to get. So for us, we’re preparing to play, but we also understand that there’s a lot more to it than just the result of the game.”
Though players from both teams have Hamlin’s health on their minds this week — quarterback Mac Jones said they’re “all playing for him” — there is a game to play, as well — and an important one, at that. A win would give the Patriots the seventh and final spot in the AFC playoffs, while the Bills are in contention for the No. 1 seed, though it’s unclear how the NFL might restructure its postseason if Monday’s Bills-Bengals game is not completed.
Patriots outside linebacker Matthew Judon doesn’t believe it will be difficult to focus on the task at hand once the game kicks off.
“When you go out there, it’s going to be hard not to think about it, but it’s not going to be hard to go out there and compete,” Judon said. “I think the Bills and our team are going to go out there and do the best we can with the circumstances and the situation at hand, but I don’t think it’s going to be any less competitive of a game.
“But regardless of what they try to do before the game or do during the game to uplift him, uplift Damar and his family, I don’t think it’s going to be hard for us to get up for that type of game.”
Kickoff on Sunday is set for 1 p.m. ET.
