Bills coach says Damien Harris has full movement after neck injury

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Buffalo Bills running back Damien Harris was taken off the field in an ambulance and transported to a local hospital after suffering a neck injury Sunday night against the New York Giants.

Coach Sean McDermott said his understanding is Harris has full movement in his body and his scans have been good so far.

“So things are going in the right direction right now for Damien,” McDermott said after Buffalo’s 14-9 victory.

Harris was rushing the ball on third-and-1 from the Buffalo 34-yard line in the second quarter when he took a neck blow into the back of Bills right guard O’Cyrus Torrence and into the arms of Giants linebacker . Bobby Okereke. Harris then took steps to try to continue running as Okereke took him to the turf.

Harris lay on the field for several minutes while Bills medical staff and athletic trainers attended to him. The entire Bills sideline came out to surround and support him. Left tackle Dion Dawkins said he made sure Harris was breathing, but then had to step away while Harris received treatment.

Harris gave a thumbs-up sign with his left hand from the gurney as he was loaded into the ambulance. The Bills announced shortly after that he had movement in his arms and legs and was undergoing additional tests at the hospital.

“It’s definitely an emotional thing, and people try to act like we’re inhumane like…this thing is real,” Dawkins said. “It’s real, and Damien is our brother. He’s our friend, and we know him personally. Seeing him lying there… he just found out two days ago that he’s having a boy. They said it was a neck injury. Imagine if he can’t keep his son out of a room? It’s scary, man. It’s scary. And I take it for what it is, and I take it with respect to God, but like at any time, it could be that.”.

Harris, an upbeat member of the locker room who often speaks enthusiastically about his growing family with his wife, arrived at the game wearing a blue sweater with a goose on it and pants with blue accents.

“You never want to see that. That’s the ugliest part of the game,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said of Harris being taken off the field in an ambulance. “He’s been so great, Damien, coming here, and I know he’s only been here a few months, obviously this training camp, but the juice that he brings and the sense of racing that he brings to this offense, you can” It’s not really going to replace him, you know? And I hope he’s okay…I pray for him and his family.

Allen injured his right shoulder earlier in the second quarter with just over five minutes remaining on first and ten when he was taken down by Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Allen’s shoulder hit the turf after an incomplete pass.

Allen went to the X-ray room after the game and said he was unaffected by the injury. McDermott said all scans of Allen’s shoulder were “normal.”

The injured carry Harris was his first of the game and his only offensive snap of the contest. He was also the team’s leading kickoff returner Sunday night.

Harris, 26, is in his first season as Bill after signing in free agency. After spending his first four years with the New England Patriots, he quickly adapted to his new team and had what he described as the best offseason of his career. He played as a backup in a room that includes second-year guard James Cook and veteran Latavius ​​Murray, who started the game against the Giants and played two fewer snaps than Cook.

Entering Sunday’s game, Harris, selected in the third round of the 2019 draft out of Alabama, had recorded 22 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown, in addition to two receptions for 16 yards.