Bengals News: Damar Hamlin, local pro day, and more

In Bengals news, Damar Hamlin has been "fully cleared" and is preparing to play. Also, the Bengals held their local pro day on Tuesday. Who was in attendance?

Hamlin collapsed on the field during the Bengals' Week 17 match-up against the Buffalo Bills. The game was canceled and Hamlin, despite going into cardiac arrest on the field, was resuscitated and ended up fighting through everything.

Bills GM Brandon Beane spoke to the media on Tuesday and said that Hamlin is "fully cleared" and preparing to take the field again. This is such an amazing story and if Hamlin does opt to return to football, he'll be a lock to win Comeback Player of the Year.

At the Bengals' local pro day, players such as Sean Clifford, Charles McClelland, Tanner Morgan, Jabari Taylor, and Leanard Taylor showed up to work out for the team. This gives guys who are either from Cincinnati or attended college at Cincinnati to get a chance to show what they can do for the local NFL team.

Check out what's trending in Bengals news.

Damar Hamlin Is Cleared to Return to Football [Emmanuel Morgan, New York Times]

"“I have a long road ahead, a journey full of unknowns and a journey full of milestones, but it’s a lot easier to face your fears when you know your purpose,” he said."

- From Morgan's article

Bengals hosting slew of local talent for pre-draft workout on Tuesday [Nathan Beighle, Cincy Jungle]

"The talent in Queen City at the collegiate level is still at a high level, and when including surrounding colleges like Western Kentucky, Miami, Ohio State, Eastern Kentucky and Marshall, the pool Cincinnati has opted to bring in gets even deeper."

- Nathan Beighle

I mentioned players who grew up in Cincinnati or played for the Bearcats but it expands even more beyond that. The Bengals will get to see these local names up close and decide if they'd be someone they'd either want to draft or sign as an undrafted free agent.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor sees new TE Irv Smith Jr. filling Hayden Hurst role in Cincinnati [Kevin Patra, NFL.com]

""Yeah, we think he can come in and play that role for us," Taylor said. "There's always competition in that room, but that's the vision that we have for Irv to come in there and fill that role that Hayden had for us.""

- From Patra's article

The Bengals lost Hayden Hurst in free agency and went on to sign Irv Smith Jr. to fill his starting spot. The team might still look to add a tight end in the draft but the plan is to have Smith be the TE1 for the Bengals in 2023.