RENTON, Wash. — It felt like a dazed start to the day at Seahawks headquarters.
Players and coaches searched for the right words to try and articulate their feelings on Damar Hamlin, while understanding they'll have to let it go by the time Sunday comes.
Hamlin, a Buffalo Bills safety, collapsed on the field during Monday night's game against the Cincinnati Bengals and was administered CPR before being driven away in an ambulance. The Bills said early Tuesday morning in an official statement that Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field.
On Wednesday, head coach Pete Carroll had his players meet with team physician Jon Drezner before the start of practice. The hope was to put their mind at ease and to reassure them their health and safety is top of mind.
"I think it was a very powerful meeting with the players," Drezner said. "I had an opportunity to talk to the players about what we do as a Seahawks medical staff to prepare."
Drezner, who is also the director of the center for sports cardiology at the University of Washington, said just how a football team masters a playbook, his medical team masters protocol for emergency situations.
The response for Damar Hamlin on Monday night was the same response you'd see at any stadium across the league.
"We practice this here at the facility every year before the season starts. We practice at the stadium with all emergency personnel there," Drezner said.
"We weren't looking for answers, we just kind of looking for some solace," Carroll said.
The players say that's indeed what they found, many of whom reflected on their own serious injuries.
"I left the house last year with two legs and came back with one," safety Quandre Diggs said after he fractured his leg and dislocated his ankle at the end of last season. "I call my mom before every home game and talk to her, just to have that peace of mind."
Diggs said it will be heavy taking the field this week, due to the hurt they were feeling watching Hamlin on Monday, combined with their own hurt they've felt in the past.
"Every game at some moment, I think about how I broke my leg. I'd be lying if I said I didn't. That's trauma. That's real life trauma and stuff like that is hard to tune out," he said.
