Damar Hamlin: Zac Taylor reveals Sean McDermott conversation after cardiac arrest

Bengals coach Zac Taylor has revealed the serious conversation he had with his Bills counterpart Sean McDermott after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest Monday night.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Taylor described how he decided to go to the Bills’ bench and talk to his fellow coach instead of “playing the phone” after the ordeal.

“I won’t reveal any of the private conversations that Sean and I had except for this,” Taylor said.

Zac Taylor praised how Sean McDermott handled the Damar Hamlin situation

The Bills gather on the field as CPR is administered to Buffalo Bills safety Hamlin.

“When I got there, the first thing he said was, ‘I need to be in the hospital with Damar. I shouldn’t be training this game.'”

Both sides agreed that play would not resume, while the NFL has since said it will not pick up this week before the (scheduled) final week of the regular season.

And while the contest was supposed to have postseason implications for both sides, Taylor saw clearly what McDermott’s priorities were at the time.

“Unprecedented is the word that gets thrown around a lot about this situation because that’s what it is,” he said.

McDermott told Taylor that he “needs[ed] being in the hospital’ with Hamlin after his cardiac arrest

“But in that moment, it really showed who he was. That all his focus was just on Damar and being there for him, being there for his family in the hospital. And at that point, I think everything moved in the direction that he needed to and the right decisions were made there.’

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow also discussed his own role following Hamlin’s injury, which occurred in the first quarter after he tackled Cincinnati wide receiver Tee Higgins.

Hamlin got up briefly after the play before appearing wobbly and collapsing on the grass.

He was given CPR in the field and shortly thereafter was taken by ambulance to hospital, where the team said he was in critical condition later that night.

The Bills said Thursday that Hamlin had shown “remarkable improvement” in the past 24 hours.

Burrow told members of the media Wednesday that the Bengals captains met with the Buffalo captains and made it clear they didn’t want to play anymore either.

“First, we wanted to show our support,” says Burrow. “And two, at that point there had been no decision made on the game and we wanted to go and let them know how we felt about the game,” he said.

“Nobody wanted to continue the game in a situation like that,” Burrow added. “I know how everyone in our locker room would feel if he was one of our guys, and I know how we felt and he was one of his guys.” So it was a scary and emotional night.

Play-by-play announcer Joe Buck said an NFL representative told him play would resume after a five-minute warm-up period, which NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent told has denied.

With just six days between Week 18 and the start of the NFL Wild Card round on January 14, it seems questionable whether the game is over.

Joe Burrow spoke to Bills captains to offer ‘support’ during ordeal

Burrow supports the Bills regardless of the decision that is made.

“I think whatever Buffalo wanted to do would be what we would also want to do,” he said.

“We stand behind them 100 percent and support them in whatever they decide to do in the future.”

The Bills said Thursday that Hamlin appeared to be “neurologically intact” and has shown “notable improvement” over the past 24 hours, with teammate Kaiir Elam saying he is “awake and showing more signs of improvement.”