Dolphins Reaction to Hamlin Situation

Miami Dolphins coordinators and some of their assistant coaches conducted a media session Thursday, and running backs coach Eric Studesville had a special message once he was done answering questions.

"If I could say this, it's kind of been on my heart here, just I want to speak to Damar Hamlin," Studesville said. "First of all, that, myself, my family, our thoughts and prayers are with that young man and his family, what they're going through. And he's got a tremendous battle; that family is battling. But I hope that they understand that they have support from the brothers around this league and the families ... they have an extended family to help them with his battle.

"But we're all thinking about that young man and that these young people that go out here are extraordinary young people. They really are. They're extraordinary young people and for something like this to happen is truly terrible, but that they have a support system and we're sending thoughts and prayers and support to that family, that organization, and for that young man because there's a lot of things that are bigger than this game. And what's happening there that focus needs to be and that that family and that organization know that they have support around the league."

FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM.

DOLPHINS PLAYER REACTIONS

Studesville's comments came after several Dolphins players spoke about the incident involving Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills safety who suffered cardiac arrest Monday night before CPR was administered and he was taken by ambulance to a Cincinnati hospital.

Hamlin has made significant progress Thursday, per multiple reports, including communicating in writing — he asked who won the game Monday night.

Here were some of those comments from Dolphins players Wednesday:

Punter Thomas Morstead: on Hamlin collapsing in the Monday Night hFootball game “Look, it was on the biggest stage — Monday Night Football, the whole world is watching. It’s something that we’re told as players that the teams are prepared for, but I personally have never seen that in action. Just talking to players today, we addressed it as a team. We talked about it before we talked about anything to do with our plan for the week, and really, the message for me personally was he’s fortunate that that happened where it happened. You want to either be on an NFL football field or in the emergency room when something like that happens. I think there’s over 30 medical specialists that have all sorts of different specialties that are on the field. And from everything that we’ve seen and that we’ve been told, the response was about as good and swift and quick as it could have been. Obviously, it’s a scary thing for people to witness. I don’t want to drudge through the details of it, but it’s not just players that you worry about. It’s players’ wives, girlfriends, families and kids that see that. It was just more of a reinforcement that we really do have the best specialists in the world that are looking out for us and caring for us."

DT Christian Wilkins on how difficult it is for you guys to focus on the task at hand: “We’re all professionals. You’ve got to be professional in this situation (and) try as much as you can to just focus on the things we have to and on things we can control, be your best this week and finish this thing out the right way. So regardless of what happens or however it goes, it’s our last regular season opportunity for the 2022-2023 Dolphins, so you want to finish it the right way regardless.”

WR Jaylen Waddle on how difficult it was to witness the incident: “It’s definitely difficult. We kind of get normal to how the game of football is played and don’t really look at how violent the game is. So seeing a play like that, it’s hard. I’m praying for him, his family, the Bills organization, his teammates and everyone involved in it. It’s tough but everyone’s praying for him. Our team our family is praying for him.”

S Jevon Holland on how the NFL brotherhood rallied around Hamlin: “Yeah, absolutely. It’s known that the NFL is a brotherhood and everybody supports everybody. But when stuff like that happens and you see the response from everybody, it’s heartwarming to know that everybody just wants everybody to be ok. That’s the bottom line. But yeah, it was super dope, for sure.”

RB Raheem Mostert on balancing the love for football and knowing how dangerous, at the same time, this game can be?: “That’s a great question because I had that same incident happen with Tua (Tagovailoa) early on in the season. That play is going to stick with me for the rest of my life, as well. Just seeing how he responded and the way it happened and all of that stuff. Those things can haunt you. But as a player, I was telling my guys in the room, at one point you do have to block that out because there’s still a game that has to be played. I hate to say that. I don’t want to be that guy that says those things. But the reality is it’s part of the job description. That’s something I hate but we’re all human and we all have to come forth and be creative in our own way. Maybe that’s just shutting it out completely. Maybe that’s using motivation to protect yourself even more. Who’s to say as a player what you can and can’t do. But I will say, for me, I’m going to definitely be more cautious on my approach to the game and also be generous to the game and be very cognizant and responsive of what’s going on around me. I just learned today that here at Hard Rock Stadium that there’s a helicopter that takes only six minutes to a hospital if anything goes down. Those are the little things that we probably take for granted but at the same time, we need to understand and educate ourselves in that aspect of trying to heal and get better.”

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.