Damien Harris thankfully seems to have escaped severe injury.
The Buffalo Bills running back was released from the hospital on Monday with neck pain “but otherwise is going to be fine,” per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
That was in doubt Sunday night when Harris, 26, lay still on the turf at Highmark Stadium after a normal-looking collision with Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke.
The Giants’ players said after the game that it was a scary situation.
“You want everyone to come out healthy in a game. I wish him and his family nothing but the best,” center Ben Bredeson said. “That’s one of the frightening parts of football, and you don’t wish that on anybody.”
Okereke said continuing to play in that type of moment is strange, because you care for the human but also need to resume the game.
“It’s kind of like that dichotomy, because you’re morally conflicted,” Okereke said. “The stretcher came out, but you gotta go play football. It’s tough.”
Harris’ situation was extra eerie because his teammate, safety Damar Hamlin, was sitting in street clothes on the Buffalo bench as Harris was being tended to on the field.
It doesn’t take much for Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest from last January to rush to the forefront of people’s minds.
That’s especially true since Hamlin’s name and number were plastered to the windows of the ambulance that drove onto the field to pick up Harris.
Fortunately, Harris gave a thumbs up as he left the field, was reported to have movement in his arms and legs when he left for further evaluation, and now has been released.
Neck injuries are still concerns, though, obviously, particularly for a person who plays a contact sport. So it will be worth monitoring Harris’ game status in the coming weeks.
