Back to the New England Patriots Newsfeed

Roger Goodell: NFL’s slow decision to postpone Bills-Bengals was due to players ‘discussing it with their teams’

In the immediate aftermath of Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffering a cardiac arrest on Monday night against the Bengals, the NFL drew plenty of criticism for their handling of a game frozen at a standstill.

While Hamlin first collapsed to the field at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium, it took over 15 minutes for the game to be temporarily suspended — and almost another 40 minutes for the contest to officially be postponed.

In the days following Hamlin’s medical emergency, NFL executive VP of football operations Troy Vincent denied a report that the league told Bills/Bengals players that they’d only have five minutes to warm up before continuing play after Hamlin was taken off the field in an ambulance.