Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor spoke on Wednesday afternoon for the first time since the tragic events that took place at Paycor Stadium on Monday.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in the first quarter and suffered a cardiac arrest. He was then administered CPR for nearly 10 minutes before the medical staff restored his heartbeat and took him to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he remains in critical condition.
Taylor opened his press conference by spending nearly four minutes sending his well wishes and prayers to Hamlin, his family and the entire Bills’ organization before highlighting several others.
More:How the NFL decided to postpone Bengals-Bills following Damar Hamlin’s collapse on field
More:Bills-Bengals postponement was a rarity for NFL in medical emergencies and even death
Taylor also expressed gratitude for all medical professionals involved, from Buffalo’s medical staff to Cincinnati’s, the paramedics, the emergency response team and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center’s security team, doctors and nurses.
But there was one person who really struck a chord with him – Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott.
What Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott talked about Monday night
After the ambulance left with Hamlin to transport him to the hospital, both teams returned to their respective sideline. There was still a lot unknown at that point as to what would come next. At that moment, Taylor walked across the field to the Bills’ sideline to talk with McDermott, who was distraught.
“When I got over there, the first thing (McDermott) said was, 'I need to be at the hospital for Damar, and I shouldn't be coaching this game,'” Taylor said.
There wasn’t much that needed to be said after that comment. Taylor and McDermott agreed the best thing for both teams was to pause and regroup.
Both the Bills and Bengals went to their locker rooms while things got sorted out. Taylor opted to go to Buffalo’s locker room, which is halfway around the stadium from Cincinnati’s, for easier communication with McDermott and the NFL.
Moments after Taylor arrived at the Bills’ locker room, his captains soon followed. The Bengals’ captains walked in full uniform to Buffalo’s side of the building to speak with the Buffalo’s captains.
Cincinnati Bengals captains met with Buffalo Bills captains after the Damar Hamlin incident
Taylor wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do in that moment. He delivered the message to McDermott, who then went to get his captains to come out of the locker room.
“When you saw both those groups interacting, you immediately knew that was the right decision,” Taylor said. “I think both sides needed that. Both sets of players, the leaders on the teams, for them to come together, I just stood back and watched. You could tell that's something both locker rooms needed. I'm appreciative our captains responded that way and that was the thought to do that.
Cincinnati’s team captains are Joe Burrow, Sam Hubbard, D.J. Reader, Ted Karras, Joe Mixon and Vonn Bell. Among the Bills’ players who spoke with the Bengals were Josh Allen, Jordan Poyer, Stefon Diggs and Case Keenum.
From there, the decision was made to postpone the game. After a few hours, the majority of the Bills’ organization flew home. A few players chose to stay behind to be close to Hamlin and his family.
Taylor gave the players Tuesday off as the league announced the Bills-Bengals game would not be made up this week. There has been no decision from the NFL yet on whether this game will be played in the future. Several factors are involved and it’s extremely complicated.
More:NFL: Buffalo-Cincinnati game won't be resumed this week
The Bengals met Wednesday as a team for the first time since Monday night. Taylor and his staff are hard at work preparing for a critical game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
So, how is he preparing to lead this team knowing the impact of Monday’s events but also acknowledging there is a game to play this weekend?
“I think Vinny Rey, our team chaplain, has helped with his messaging to a lot of different people that way,” Taylor said. “And one of the things I've taken from that is you do have to move forward as a team because we do have a game to play Sunday and we do have to move focus toward that. But at the same time, you don't have to move past the situation that's happening right now.”
The Bengals will hold meetings and a walk-through on Wednesday and will resume practice on Thursday.
And while there’s a lot of unknown right now regarding Hamlin’s health, if the game will be made up and what happens if it is not, Taylor and the Bengals will control what they can. That means support at any time for any player who needs it or Hamlin’s family that remains with him in Cincinnati.
The last three days have been a whirlwind for Taylor and the hope is he never has to deal with anything like this ever again. As for how he’s handling everything, he’s keeping everything in perspective while also understanding there’s no rulebook for how to handle a tragic situation like this one.
All he knows is to lead with compassion and that’s exactly what he’s doing.
“Make no mistake, this was a man that was in their locker room, that they had deep relationships with that they had helped grow and develop and spent a lot of time with,” Taylor said. “Whereas, I didn't have that relationship with him. I never saw him on the field. I don't pretend to have gone through what a lot of those other people went through. There's a lot of processing for people (who are much closer to Damar). Just as a respect for other human beings, it hurts your heart, however you saw it unfold. It's unfortunate and to know there's family in the hospital, there's a mother whose son is in there, to have kids yourself, that hits a little closer."
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