Damar Hamlin's big night overshadowed by innocent involvement with Tua Tagovailoa concussion

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin made his second straight start to begin the 2024 season during the team's 31-10 win against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2 of "Thursday Night Football."

Hamlin racked up a team-high eight solo tackles while adding two assisted takedowns for 10 combined tackles (tied for a team-high), including one tackle for loss. It was one of the most impactful games of his career (certainly since the 2022 campaign), but his tackle of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with 4:30 left in the third quarter led to the story of the contest .

After the play, Tagovailoa "immediately went into a fencing response with his arms in an unnatural position," per ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques . The 2023 Pro Bowler exited the contest and was diagnosed with the third concussion of his career.

Of course, Hamlin is no stranger to being at the center of terrifying health scares on an NFL field in prime time.

The 26-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest on Jan. 2, 2023, in Week 17 of the 2022 campaign on "Monday Night Football" against the Cincinnati Bengals. Hamlin had an inspirational journey back to the football field in 2023 and played in five games last season.

As he explained following Thursday's win, the University of Pittsburgh product was "just trying to make a routine tackle,” and “trying to get (the Dolphins offense) off the field on fourth down.” It was a routine tackle that just happened to lead to an unfortunate (and all too familiar) result for Tagovailoa.

When Hamlin suffered his cardiac arrest against Cincinnati, it came immediately following a routine tackle that he made as well.

Miami's lefty signal-caller, meanwhile, battled through numerous concussions in 2022 and was limited to 13 games (two of which were cut short) to finish ninth in the MVP voting and lead the league in yards gained per pass attempt (8.9), yards gained per completion (13.7) and passer rating (105.5), among other categories. Tagovailoa made his first Pro Bowl in 2023, played all 17 games and led the Dolphins to the playoffs for the second year in a row.

He led the NFL with a career-best 4,624 passing yards and also set high marks in completion percentage (69.3) and touchdown passes (29). Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212M contract extension this summer.

In the aftermath of another concussion, multiple former NFL players have spoken out , calling for the Alabama product to think about his long-term health and retire.

Hamlin, however, said after the win that in addition to his hopes for Tagovailoa's "speedy recovery," he knows the quarterback is a "dog," a "fighter" and will "be back soon, for sure."

"You’ve got to tune all that out," Hamlin said of people begging him not to play after his cardiac arrest, per Tim Graham of The Athletic . "At the end of the day, there’s nobody lining up on the field with you except the people that’s on your side. Ain’t nobody in the room with you when the cameras are off besides your family. Those are the opinions that matter."