The NFL still hasn’t decided whether, or when, the Week 17 game between the Bills and Bengals will resume. There’s another dilemma potentially looming for the league.
During a Wednesday afternoon conference call regarding the Damar Hamlin situation, NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent didn’t rule out the possibility of postponing the Week 18 game between the Patriots and the Bills, if Bills players and coaches aren’t ready to proceed.
“We have not had that discussion,” Vincent said regarding the possibility of postponing the Buffalo game. “It’s really important that we just keep the pulse of the coach and the players, and don’t get in front of that. And we’ll allow Sean [McDermott] and his team and his staff and his players, which are the most important thing here, to guide this, if we have to make that decision collectively with the club.”
On one hand, it would be very hard to envision the Bills not playing on Week 18, when they quite possibly will never finish their Week 17 game. On the other hand, it’s impossible to expect the Bills players and coaches to proceed, if they aren’t ready to play.
Really, who would expect them to? They experienced a trauma that may not heal to the point at which they can properly gather themselves and play football again only six days later. If they can process their feelings and properly and safely perform, that’s great. If they can’t, that’s a decision that someone will have to make at the appropriate time.
Time continues to be the key word. As Steve Miller said, time keeping on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future. At some point, time makes decisions for you.