Dan Campbell shares thoughts on Damar Hamlin

In a radio spot Tuesday morning, Lions coach Dan Campbell offered his thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffering a cardiac arrest on field.

On Monday Night Football, the NFL world held its collective breath as Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field after suffering cardiac arrest in the first quarter of the game. It was a terrifying scene as he was given CPR right there on the field in an effort to save the 24-year-old’s life.

The latest update—given by the Buffalo Bills at 1:48 a.m. ET Tuesday morning—is that Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on the field, he was transferred to the UC Medical Center, and is currently sedated and in critical condition. The game was suspended indefinitely.

During his weekly appearance on 97.1 The Ticket show “Stoney and Jansen with Heather,” Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell offered his thoughts on the situation.

“Probably what anybody saw that’s played this sport or been out there, it turned from one thing into something totally different, and that’s when reality hits. ‘Well, this is not the norm.’

“Listen, our thoughts and prayers go out to him, his family, everybody involved, the whole Buffalo Bills family, and everybody that was out there in that moment. Because when you go through all that you go through with guys—and injuries happen and you learn to move on—but I can only imagine being out there and that’s one of your brothers, and you realize things get real in a hurry, and you’re trying to get him back. That’ll shake you, man. So, I’m just glad they did the right thing and didn’t finish that out last night. That wouldn’t have been smart. But thoughts and prayers for them.”

Campbell was then asked by co-host Jon Jansen how he plans on talking about this situation with his own players, several of whom expressed their thoughts and prayers on social media Monday night.

“I think you just—there’s such a fine line, right? There’s a balance between understanding that there is risk in this game and we all sign up for it, but also understanding that at some point it goes beyond that and that’s the scary side of it that you really don’t want to even think about. I sure as heck never did. And if you start thinking too much into it, you’ll never want to play this game, and that’s where you’ve got to be careful.

“But I know it’s something we’ve got to talk about, because it’s out there, and this is a real human being, and those are his brothers out there. Man, it’s something that just won’t ever leave you. I hate that it was out there as long as it was out there, honestly. I know everyone just thought, ‘Is it a normal injury or something different?’ But it’s tough. It’s tough to see. It’d be tough for our players to see.”