This week Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin took another step in his recovery from his scary injury against the Cincinnati Bengals during the regular season last year. The Bills former sixth round pick suffered commotio cordis while trying to tackle Tee Higgins.
Hamlin's recovery has been remarkable and for the first time in front of media, he was a full participant in practice on Tuesday. Matt Parrino with syracuse.com provided some video from practice today.
Damar Hamlin ramping up more for week 3 of OTAs. He worked into team drills for first time during an open practice. Thought he played really well. Important to remember no pads. He seemed to have an upper body issue after one play but was back on the field a few minutes later. pic.twitter.com/kbMQ0m7ryR
— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) June 6, 2023
The return was great to see but The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia did note that Hamlin had to leave briefly after a contested catch. He was checked out by athletic trainers and was able to return.
Buffalo Bills and Damar Hamlin can afford to be patient entering the 2023 season
Last year, Damar Hamlin stepped into the starting lineup after Micah Hyde suffered a neck injury in Week 2. He would have big shoes to fill in replacing Hyde and he played well in his place.
This would be the most playing time he has seen in the early part of his career with 13 starts and 15 games played. In total, Hamlin would have 91 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, two passes defended, and one forced fumble.
When Damar Hamlin does return to an NFL game it is going to be an amazing accomplishment but it would make sense for everyone to be very cautious in his path back. The Buffalo Bills have both Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer back this season as their starting safeties.
In addition to those two, the Bills did sign free agent Taylor Rapp to be their backup. He is an experienced safety previously with the Los Angeles Rams and if either Hyde or Poyer are forced to miss any time in 2023, it would likely be Rapp who could step in.