Damar Hamlin ‘AWAKE and showing signs of improvement’ says Bills teammate Kaiir Elam

Damar Hamlin is awake and showing signs of improvement after going into cardiac arrest and being revived during Monday’s Bills-Bengals game in Cincinnati.

Buffalo cornerback Kaiir Elam made the announcement Thursday on Twitter: ‘Our guy is better, awake and showing more signs of improvement. Thanks God. Please keep the prayers coming. All the love 3!

The Bills also issued their own encouraging statement, noting that Hamlin’s lungs are improving and that he is neurologically intact as he continues to receive treatment at a Cincinnati hospital.

“According to Damar Hamlin’s caring physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Damar has shown marked improvement over the past 24 hours,” the team’s statement read. “Although he is still seriously ill, he has shown that he appears to be neurologically intact. His lungs continue to heal and he is making steady progress.

On Wednesday, the Bills players had an “emotional” phone call with Hamlin’s father, Mario, who had an encouraging update on his son.

“The team needed him,” a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

NFL Network reports that the Bills plan to practice Thursday for the first time since Monday’s game was postponed indefinitely. The team took a tour of the practice facility at Orchard Park on Wednesday.

Another source told NFL Network’s Mike Giardi the call was “emotional” but provided some “calm” for the players in the midst of a difficult week.

“This is not easy,” the source told Giardi, adding that “they are doing this together.”

Spokesmen for Bills did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for more details about the call.

Hamlin was revived by medics on the field at Paycor Stadium, but updates have been positive in the days since, with his ventilator usage reduced from 100 percent to 50 percent late on Tuesday.

ESPN spoke with Rooney outside the hospital in Cincinnati on Wednesday and broke the positive news that doctors were pleased with the progress he has made.

Rooney was also quick to correct widespread “misinformation” about the number of times Hamlin was resuscitated, after the player’s uncle told reporters it had happened twice, once at the stadium and once at the hospital.

It has now been revealed that there was only one revive, on the field of Paycor Stadium.

The Bills (12-3) host the New England Patriots on Sunday, and they may still have a chance to wrest the top seed in the AFC playoffs from the Kansas City Chiefs (13-3), depending on whether the NFL does or does not order last week’s game against Cincinnati to be completed. Kansas City has a tiebreaker over the Bills and can clinch the top seed and a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs if it beats the Raiders in Las Vegas on Saturday.