CINCINNATI —

Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field during the game against the Bengals in Cincinnati, the team said.

After making a tackle after a catch by Tee Higgins, Hamlin stood up for a brief moment before falling over onto the turf.

The 24-year-old safety was down on the turf for 16 minutes, before he was lifted on to a stretcher and into an ambulance.

The Buffalo Bills gave an update overnight Tuesday, saying Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following the tackle. The team says Hamlin's heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition, the team said.

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Other Bills' players gathered around Hamlin on the field and knelt in prayer.

“No one’s been through this,” longtime NFL quarterback Troy Aikman said on the ESPN telecast. “I’ve never seen anything like it, either.”

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After about 21 minutes, officials temporarily suspended the game until further notice. Just before 10 p.m., ESPN confirmed the game was officially suspended.

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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement saying that the league is in agreement with postponing the game until a later date.

Hamlin, 24, spent five years of college at Pitt -- his hometown -- and appeared in 48 games for the Panthers over that span. He was a second-team All-ACC performer as a senior, was voted a team captain and was picked to play in the Senior Bowl.

He was drafted in the sixth round by the Bills in 2021, played in 14 games as a rookie and then became a starter this year once Micah Hyde was lost for the season to injury.

Entering the game, the 6-foot, 200-pound Hamlin had 91 tackles, including 63 solo tackles, and 1 1/2 sacks.

A tweet from the Pitt football account was simple and clear: “Damar Hamlin is the best of us. We love you, 3,” the tweet said, referring to Hamlin by his college jersey number. “Praying for you.”

Bills' player Stefon Diggs arrived at the hospital shortly after 11 p.m. to visit his teammate. Diggs and Hamlin played college football together and are huge supporters of each other's careers.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

CINCINNATI —

Doctors are working to determine what caused a Buffalo Bills football player to collapse after taking a hit during the Monday night game with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bills defensive player Damar Hamlin is being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where experts are looking at all possibilities.

“They’re looking at his coronary arteries, looking at his heart musculature, looking at his potential for arrhythmias and whatnot, and seeing if those are the predominant cause,” said the co-director of the sports cardiology center at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Tamamna Singh. “That will dictate what the treatment strategy will be.”

Singh said what happened during the hit is also a major factor.

“Blows to the chest can also trigger abnormal heart rhythms that can cause cardiac arrest. So, there's a whole host of things that we want to evaluate before we kind of speculate what the cause was in this particular case,” Singh said.

Among the most important part of the treatment was the attention given immediately on the field.

Medical teams used an electronic device known as an AED.

“What it stands for is an automated external defibrillator, meaning if you put the pads on and you don't need to be shocked, it's not going to call for a shock. So, it is truly automated,” said American Heart Association Alyson Poling.

Poling said CPR compressions were also important to circulate oxygen to the brain.

“As an adult, we have a lot of oxygen built up, but if nothing is circulating that oxygen, things will start to die off. So, truly what we call hands only or that compressions on the chest is first and foremost, especially in adults,” Poling said.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin made his first public appearance since going into cardiac arrest after making a tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals three weeks ago, waving to fans from a stadium suite on Sunday as the two teams met again for an AFC divisional playoff game.

The crowd at Highmark Stadium erupted when an image of the recovering Hamlin filled the massive screens at the end zones near the end of the game's first half. Fans turned toward the glass-enclosed suite and cheered.

Hamlin, wearing a hooded jacket, stood in front of the windows and raised his arms as if saluting the crowd and encouraging it to get on its feet as the Bengals were facing second-and-goal at their 5. He ended by forming a heart sign with his hands, his signature gesture.

Earlier Sunday, the Bills posted a video to both Instagram and Twitter showing Hamlin arriving at the team's locker room and the message "Welcome home, Damar." The video showed Hamlin arriving in a golf cart about an hour before kickoff, wearing sunglasses and a face covering, the hood of his jacket pulled up. He was accompanied by his 7-year-old brother, Damir, and mother, Nina.

He was not seen on the field before the game got underway in snowy conditions. The Bills made no announcement about his whereabouts to fans in attendance, but word of his attendance had spread by the time he appeared on the screens.

"It was amazing, it really was. I think everybody got so excited," Brin Jobson of Buffalo said at halftime. "We heard he might be here, so it was cool to see him."

Hamlin, 24, had not been seen in public since the Bills and Bengals last met on Jan. 2 in a game that came to an abrupt halt and was eventually canceled after Hamlin's collapse on the field in the first quarter.

Bills coach Sean McDermott said Hamlin began making regular visits to the team's facility soon after his release from the hospital in what he described as "dipping his toe back in here and getting on the road to just getting back to himself."

His presence was enough to uplift his teammates, who after Hamlin's collapse surrounded him as medical teams used CPR and an automatic external defibrillator (AED) to restart his heart.

For several minutes, the television audience who tuned in for that Monday night game instead absorbed the fear and sadness on players' faces, some streaked with tears.

A family spokesman for Hamlin said this week that he still faces a lengthy rehabilitation.

"Damar still requires oxygen and is having his heart monitored regularly to ensure there are no setbacks or aftereffects," Jordon Rooney told The Associated Press.

The Bills have not disclosed the results of tests Hamlin has undergone to determine why his heart stopped after he was struck in the chest while making what appeared to be a routine tackle.

Hamlin, who is originally from the Pittsburgh area, live-tweeted while watching Buffalo's 35-23 season-ending win over New England from his hospital bed at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Jan. 8. Last weekend, he live-tweeted from home while watching the Bills' 34-31 win over Miami in a wild-card playoff.

BUFFALO, N.Y. —

Buffalo Bills players took CPR training at the team facility this week as safety Damar Hamlin continues to his recovery from a cardiac arrest.

Related video above: EMS workers demonstrate lifesaving techniques in honor of Damar Hamlin's #3forHeart CPR Challenge

The Bills posted video on Wednesday showing the CPR training, alongside a caption reading: "Buffalo Black Nurses Association, UBMD, AMR, and the American Heart Association all teamed up to help the players and coaching staff learn CPR. They also learned how to use an AED [automated external defibrillator] to help save lives."

Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle during the first quarter of the Bills’ Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2.

CPR was performed on Hamlin when he lost his pulse and needed to be revived through resuscitation and defibrillation.

He was cleared to resume football activities after it was determined his cardiac arrest was caused by commotio cordis, which can occur when severe trauma to the chest disrupts the heart’s electrical charge and causes dangerous fibrillations.

Video above: How is the NFL tackling player safety?

On Tuesday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott had told reporters that Hamlin was working at the team facility but wasn’t practicing.

However, later Tuesday, the 25-year-old did practice, doing individual drills as he prepares for his NFL comeback.

The NFL is in the organized team activities portion of the offseason program, commonly known as OTAs.

Several teams, including the Bills, began OTAs on Monday. No live contact is allowed, but seven-on-seven, nine-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.