Damar Hamlin will start for the Bills on Sunday against the Cardinals

Bills safety Damar Hamlin has earned a starting spot in Buffalo’s secondary.

Hamlin is listed as one of two starting safeties on the Bills’ official depth chart. When reporters asked head coach Sean McDermott about Hamlin’s status, he praised what Hamlin has done in the year and a half since he suffered a cardiac arrest on the field during a game in Cincinnati.

“Damar Hamlin is going to start,” McDermott said. “What else can’t this young man do? He’s been through what he’s been through on the field, you’ve written about it over and over again, and to come back from that — it’s one thing to come back from an ACL or a broken bone. It’s another thing to come back from what he’s been through. Let alone to decide to play football, and contact football, in full protection at the NFL level — I don’t think I need to say anything more. It’s unbelievable.”

Hamlin was widely praised last season for even being able to return to the field, but he played in only five games last year, mostly on special teams, and was never in the starting lineup. This offseason, Hamlin has been praised for his continued hard work, and now he’s a starter.