By Frank Pingue
(Reuters) – The Buffalo Bills will return to practice on Wednesday ahead of their Sunday regular-season finale while the team awaits updates on the condition of safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest during a game two days ago.
The Bills said they will hold meetings and a walk-through — a slower-paced practice where players typically do not wear pads and go through plays without any physical contact — and added that there would be no media availability on Wednesday.
The Super Bowl-contending Bills’ penultimate game of the NFL regular season against the host Cincinnati Bengals was postponed on Monday after Hamlin collapsed on the field after making a tackle during the first quarter.
Hamlin remains in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to the most recent update from the Bills on Tuesday.
According to an ESPN report on Wednesday that sourced Hamlin’s friend and business partner Jordon Rooney, doctors noted signs of progress for Hamlin overnight.
Rooney said Hamlin remains in the intensive care unit and is sedated but that doctors saw promising readings overnight that they had hoped to see by Wednesday morning.
Rooney did not immediately reply when asked by Reuters to provide an update on Hamlin’s condition.
The National Football League, whose regular season concludes on Sunday, has said the Buffalo-Cincinnati game would not resume this week and that no decision regarding the game has been made.
The game, if played, would have playoff implications for both teams as they are battling with the Kansas City Chiefs for the top seed in the American Football Conference, which comes with a first-round playoff bye.
The Bills are scheduled to host the New England Patriots at 1 p.m. ET (1700 GMT) on Sunday.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
