Not even a week.
That's the thing that struck head coach Zac Taylor about Bills safety Damar Hamlin leaving the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Monday and going back to Buffalo to continue his rehab.
"Let me just think about it," Taylor said at his Monday afternoon news conference at Paycor Stadium, knowing it was just before 9 p.m. last Monday right outside the door that Hamlin was revived after being felled by a cardiac arrest.
"There's no one in this room that would have expected he would be in Buffalo, what we saw even Tuesday morning. So, God is great. He works miracles. This was certainly a miracle. There's no question. Just the further it goes, you can't say it enough the people that responded on the scene gave him his best chance to do this. And anything less and we probably wouldn't be talking about this. And so, they were ready for the moment, composed and just an amazing moment for Damar."
DFENSIVE VOICES: With the Bengals hosting Sunday night's (8:15-Cincinnati's Channel 5) AFC Wild Card game against the Ravens, two defensive captains met the media Monday through Zoom.
Strong safety Vonn Bell reflected on the moments sitting on the bench in the aftermath of Super Bowl LVI back in February while nose tackle DJ Reader talked about the defense forcing nine turnovers in the last three games.
Bell: "You never forget the feeling … We just fought back, like again, just fought back to get to this moment. Really honing in on this moment, really just trying to finish the moment. They talked about it in training camp about maximizing the moment. And that's what we're in right now. Just learning that from last year, going through the situation of the playoffs and going to the Super Bowl and really working back to it, it's a testament to us and a testament to the guys in the locker room … really just having that 'not finished' mindset and really want guys to keep on going, keep on thriving and really just finish the job. "
Reader: "Guys (are) hungry, guys savage for the ball. They really want to get the ball. It's something we preach and we talk about it every week. It's one of our goals every week and we talk about our turnover margin, where we're at and how that usually produces the wins. You go plus-two, most of the time, you're going to come out and win that game. So we try to do our best to make sure we're on the plus side of turnovers. That's what kills any sport. Turnovers are really the thing that kills every sport. You have a lot of turnovers, you're going to be in the lower percentage of winning games."
RECORDS TO WATCH: There are some franchise career postseason records in jeopardy Sunday and if the Bengals keep going.
_Kicker Evan McPherson is five points from breaking Jim Breech's postseason record of 48.
_Wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase needs four catches to pass Dan Ross' record of 28.
_Wide receiver Tee Higgins is two touchdown catches shy of passing Ross' record of three.
_Quarterback Joe Burrow's fifth playoff start ties him with Boomer Esiason, one behind Ken Anderson's record six.
_Burrow is 25 passes away from breaking Anderson's record of 166 attempts and 14 from the record of 110 completions.
_Burrow needs five touchdown passes to pass Anderson's Bengals record of 10.
CAPPA UPDATE: Taylor didn't sound encouraged about right guard Alex Cappa (ankle) playing Sunday ("It's going to be tough") and he didn't know enough to make a call on anything beyond that.
But even though backup Max Scharping has played just 30 snaps this season (14 on Sunday), the Bengals are confident he can give them what they need in the postseason. The 6-6, 325-pound Scharping arrived via the waiver wire on cutdown day after starting 33 games in his first three seasons in Houston.
"He's been here all season and he did a nice job in the game, seeing him play live action for the first time, which is good," said offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. "We felt like that's why we brought him in, that's why we paid a little bit of money for him too, to bring him in. That's an insurance policy you hope to not have to use, but here we are. If he's got to play, then he's got to play, and we're expecting him to play well."
The Bengals believe the big reason they were able to get Scharping even though they were next to last in the claiming order is because not many teams were willing to add a second-round draft pick on the final year of his rookie contract at a sudden $2.5 million for 2022.
