NFL provides no updates on status of injured Bills safety Damar Hamlin

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Speaking on a conference call with the media, executive vice president of NFL communication Jeff Miller said there would be no updates on Hamlin “beyond the league statement,” which was released shortly after the announcement that Monday’s game was postponed. The Bengals led, 7-3, when the game was halted.
Hamlin was in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
The NFL said early Tuesday morning there was no update on the condition of injured Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, or any updates on when or if Monday night’s game between the Bills and Bengals would be resumed.
“Our thoughts are with Damar and the Buffalo Bills. We will provide more information as it becomes available,” the league said in a statement. “The NFL has been in constant communication with the NFL Players Association which is in agreement with postponing the game.”
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With just less than six minutes remaining in the first quarter of Monday’s game, Hamlin tackled Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins, wrapping his arms around Higgins’s shoulders and helmet to bring him down. After the hit, Hamlin got to his feet, adjusted his face mask, then fell backward, laying motionless on the turf.
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He was taken by ambulance to University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
“Tonight’s Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game has been postponed after Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin collapsed,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced.
“Hamlin received immediate medical attention on the field by team and independent medical staff and local paramedics. He was then transported to a local hospital, where he is in critical condition.
“Our thoughts are with Damar and the Buffalo Bills. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
“The NFL has been in constant communication with the NFL Players Association which is in agreement with postponing the game.”
According to league officials, the decision to suspend the game was made jointly with the players.
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“How do you resume play after you’ve seen such a traumatic event occur in front of you real time? That’s the way we were thinking about it,” said Troy Vincent, the executive vice president of operations for the NFL.
Pro Football Talk said Vincent was asked about a report that the teams were given five minutes to warm up before continuing.
“I’m not sure where that came from,” Vincent said. “Frankly, there was no time period for the players to get warmed up. Frankly, the only thing that we asked was that [referee] Shawn [Hochuli] communicate with both head coaches to make sure they had the proper time inside the locker room to discuss what they felt like was best.
“So I’m not sure where that came from. Five-minute warm-up never crossed my mind, personally. And I was the one . . . that was communicating with the Commissioner. We never, frankly, it never crossed our mind to talk about warming up to resume play. That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive. And that’s not a place that we should ever be in.”
Christopher Price can be reached at christopher.price@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at cpriceglobe.

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