Isaiah Bolden Injury: Patriots, Packers Put Football in Perspective; Damar Hamlin Lessons Learned
It was deja vu in the worst way possible for the NFL on Saturday night: seven months after Buffalo Bills defender Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots cornerback Isaiah Bolden sustained a head injury after a collision with a teammate during the fourth quarter of a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
The game was suspended/canceled almost immediately after Bolden was carted off the field. The Patriots led 21-17, with 10:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.
New England has announced that Bolden "had feeling in all his extremities" but "will be held overnight at a local hospital in Green Bay for observation." The team plans to provide an update on Bolden's status by 8 a.m. on Sunday.
With so much having transpired across the NFL world since Hamlin's cardiac arrest episode, it's easy to forget the disastrous near-response to the situation.
After a near-hour pause that saw Hamlin removed from the Paycor Stadium field during a major AFC tilt between his Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, the original plan was to give players a five-minute warm-up before resuming the contest. Silently fuming over such an absurd plan, head coaches Sean McDermott and Zac Taylor handled business and took their players' mental states into consideration, removing their teams from the field and taking to the locker room before the game was eventually called off.
Following - escalating - McDermott and Taylor's lead, Bill Belichick and Packers coach Matt LaFleur did not even let it get as far as the five minutes previously set in Cincinnati. Tragically granted precedent for how to react to such a situation, the respective bosses of New England and Green Bay opted to call off the game entirely, shutting things down.
If any teams in the NFL could use whatever benefit the preseason trio has left, New England and Green Bay, each trying to replace legendary talents under center, would undoubtedly be two.
For mental and physical's sake, however, an early dismissal was called.
Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater personally praised Belichick, often equally revered and reviled for his cold sideline demeanor, for the call to end a relatively meaningless preseason game.
“I really appreciate what Coach Belichick did,” Slater said, per Zack Cox of NESN. “He took the initiative on that. Look, this is not the AFC Championship. We’re not playing for records. It’s preseason Game 2. When you have an injury like that, it affects a lot of guys in a lot of different ways. Clearly, our team was shaken by what happened, and I think Coach made the right decision."
Little more needs to be said about the packed resume and trophy case that Belichick has amassed since taking New England's top headset at the turn of the century. All those accolades pale in comparison to Saturday's display.
“I think that was tremendous leadership by him. I have to say honestly, that was one of the proudest moments I’ve had as a guy who’s played for him for now 16 years, to see what he did." Slater said. "There was no hesitation. I appreciate Coach LaFleur, as well, for standing with him. I think everybody acted swiftly, and it was the right call in this situation.”
Time will tell if Belichick and LaFleur's joint exercise in common sense will lead to broader conversations, particularly those surrounding the necessity of the increasingly meaningless NFL preseason. In the moment, however, the two coaches' compassion offered a small consolation and a healing process to begin immediately.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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