Bills safety Hamlin participates in team drills for 1st time this off-season

With a helmet on, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin took part in team drills on Tuesday for the first time this spring and some six months since having a near-death experience during an NFL game.

Hamlin appeared upbeat by happily waving to the cameras pointed at him during pre-practice stretching drills in Orchard Park, N.Y. Soon after, he served as a punt protector in several special team periods.

Hamlin had previously been limited to taking part in individual drills and the stretching portions of practice over the previous two weeks of the team's voluntary sessions.

The 25-year-old has made it his objective to resume his football career after going into cardiac arrest and needing to be resuscitated on the field during a game at Cincinnati on Jan. 2.

The frightening collapse led to the game being eventually cancelled by the NFL and had Hamlin spending 10 days recovering and being monitored in hospitals in Cincinnati and Buffalo.

The third-year player was fully cleared to resume playing in April and has spent much of the past two months working out at the team's facility.

The Bills had no immediate update on Hamlin's practice status.