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Raiders report: Players’ thoughts with Bills’ Damar Hamlin

The constant glances at the phone and refreshing of the Twitter timeline finally paid off for Raiders safety Duron Harmon.

Like many players around the NFL, Harmon found himself obsessively checking for updates on the health of Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin.

Good news finally started to flow late in the week, days after the frightening images of Hamlin getting CPR on the field during “Monday Night Football” sent shock waves through the NFL world.

“Every time I checked my phone, I’d just be hoping,” Harmon said after Saturday’s season-ending 31-13 loss to the Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. “First, we find out he’s writing. Then he’s talking. Then he’s breathing on his own and on Facetime with his teammates. It’s just a sigh of relief because, at the end of the day, that could be anybody. It could have been me. It could have been anyone in this locker room or anyone in the NFL. We’re talking about something that’s super rare. But it changed everything this week.”

The positive status update put a great deal of minds at ease around the league as players, including from the Chiefs and Raiders, prepared to return to the field.

“To tell you the truth, it wasn’t too difficult just because we got that good news from the hospital,” Harmon said. “At the end of the day, we get paid to play football, and what better way to honor him than to go out and play as hard as we can the best we can. Obviously, the results didn’t go our way, but I just wanted to honor him with my effort because I know he wishes he could be out on the field today, and he couldn’t.”

Fullback Jakob Johnson, who caught his fifth pass of the season Saturday, said it was therapeutic not only to get on the field but also honor Hamlin together with the “Love for Damar” T-shirts all the players donned during warmups

“I think it meant a lot,” Johnson said. “As players, of course we’re competing hard against each other every play, but at the end of the day, all guys across the entire league all share that. I think it is a brotherhood like no other outside the competition on Sundays.

“This whole situation was just a reminder what a blessing it is to get to play this game. We all chose this path, but to be able to get through a season and a game without major injuries is always a blessing.”

Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby said he thought a lot about Hamlin as he prepared for the game.

“When you see somebody on the field go down like that, it makes you re-evaluate everything that’s going on and what’s important,” Crosby said. “I just have to show a lot of love to him and the whole Bills organization. The way they handled it was incredible.”

Making his case

Quarterback Jarrett Stidham didn’t light up the scoreboard Saturday like he did in his first career start last week, but he threw for 219 yards and became the first Raiders quarterback to rush for 50 yards in a game since Marcus Mariota against the Chargers in 2020.

Stidham will enter unrestricted free agency after the season, but he said it’s too early to start thinking about his future.

“I haven’t really thought about it too much,” he said. “Do I think I’m that type and caliber of player in this league (to be a starter)? Absolutely. I just tried to be ready for my opportunity these last two weeks and tried to take full advantage of it. That’s all I can do and all I can control.”

Tight end Darren Waller said he thinks Stidham did enough in his two starts to “absolutely” warrant consideration to be the team’s starting quarterback next season.

“I feel like with the opportunities he got, he made things happen,” Waller said. “He approached it with confidence, he was prepared, and he was an uplifting and confident presence in the huddle.”

Merry-go-round

Chiefs coach and offensive guru Andy Reid is known for some unique and creative play designs, and he certainly unveiled one Saturday.

Late in the first half, he had his offense walk around in a tight circle in the huddle only to quickly bust out of it with quarterback Patrick Mahomes lined up behind running back Jerick McKinnon. Mahomes took a pitch from McKinnon to the right side of the field and threw a screen to the other side of the field, which Kadarius Toney took in for a touchdown only to have it nullified by a holding penalty.

Reid credited Mahomes for helping to come up with the idea, which must have happened around Christmas because Reid called it the Arctic Circle out of Reindeer Personnel.

“The players enjoy doing that stuff with a little creativity … they come up with those things,” Reid said. “We just throw them out there and let them work them.

“They bring it to me, and I’ve got 51 percent of the vote, so if I like it, then we will call it.”

Crosby shot down any notion the play was meant to show up the Raiders.

“That was different,” he said. “It doesn’t surprise me, though. Coach Reid is definitely creative, and I feel like they had nothing to lose. They’re just trying things out to see if it will work in the playoffs. I know they’re not trying to embarrass us or anything like that. Andy Reid is one of the best coaches in the game, and I have a ton of love for him.”

Reid said the play was just about creating confusion for the defense.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.

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