It was a football play that looked like hundreds of others, until it wasn’t.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa attempted to gain a first down late in the third quarter on Thursday night and then ducked his head as Bills safety Damar Hamlin stepped up to make the tackle.

“I just tried a routine approachin an attempt to get them off the field on fourth down,” Hamlin said, via Tim Graham of TheAthletic.com.

It stopped being a normal football game when Tagovailoa displayed the fencing pose associated with concussions, and Tagovailoa’s history of brain injuries made that a frightening development. Frightening developments after seemingly routine games are something Hamlin knows all too well, after he went into cardiac arrest after being involved in a tackle during a game against the Bengals in the 2022 season.

Hamlin worked his way back onto the field this season and became a starter, but what happened Thursday night brought back some memories.

“It’s trauma. It’s always going to be there,” Hamlin said. “I can’t let it affect me because of the work I’ve done. I’ve done trauma therapy. I have a psychologist that I talk to. It’s allowed me to push my mind forward, push my process forward. I did the hard things last year, like putting on the pads, tackling, getting ready for the game, to know that I’m completely fine now and I’m completely capable of playing again.”

Hamlin said he is praying for Tagovailoa’s “quick recovery” and that he will have plenty of company.