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As NFL teams ramp up into the training camp stage of the preseason, players will now be seen wearing new guardian caps in an effort to play safer.
NFL Network's Judy Battista talked with the NFL's chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills on Wednesday's edition of Inside Training Camp Live about the implementation of guardian cap requirements across the league, discussing what the guardian caps do and what the NFL hopes to accomplish with this change.
The guardian caps are shells made of foam and padding that fit over the top of player's helmets and have been specifically designed to lessen the force of any impact to the head area during play. This is one of the measures the NFL has passed in an effort to lessen the frequency of dangerous head injuries and create an overall safer environment for its players.
"We've committed to try reduce head impacts across the league, and that means reducing how many head impacts are occurring but also reducing the impact when they do occur," Sills said. "We know that there's always going to be some head impacts, players hit the ground or inadvertently hit each other, so what we're really aiming to do here is to reduce that force that's transmitted through the helmet to the player's brain, which is ultimately going to result in a higher degree of safety for the player."
The NFL passed a resolution to require teams to wear guardian caps during the Annual League Meeting in March, mandating that players in positions which are involved in the most head impacts will be required to wear the shells during training camp practices up to the end of their second preseason game. These positions are tight ends, linemen and linebackers.
Some teams have gone further than the minimum requirements already, as multiple organizations had their players start wearing the shells during organized team activities and minicamps last month. And a couple of teams, like the Steelers, have been requiring all players to wear the caps, regardless of position.
"I will always act in your best interests, particularly as it pertains to your health and safety," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told his players in regards to the caps. "I love football, my sons play football, I'm morally obligated to keep this damn group safe and I promise you will get that commitment from me."
According to Sills, the NFL will be recording data in many forms throughout training camp in an ongoing effort to assess the success of the caps and continue improving safety measures. Currently, the helmet caps have been shown to reduce the force of head impacts by 10% when one player is wearing it, and up to 20% when both players involved in a collision are wearing the cap, per Sills. And Sills said players are already communicating how the caps feel, saying that they can feel the lessened impact when wearing the caps, and even the sound of impacts is not as loud.
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera backed up this assertion, as well, saying that there was an obvious lack of sound in helmet-to-helmet impacts in this week's practices, showing the effectiveness of the guardian caps' padding.
"You guys didn't hear the clack of the helmets today. That's typically what happens when you don't have the guardian caps on, inevitable incidental contact, helmet will be hitting helmet," Rivera said. "With these guardian caps, what they'll do is absorb some of the shock and take a lot of the shock off the players' helmets and heads. ... And if this comes out and it really helps reduce it, then I imagine we would continue."
The guardian caps are specifically required for training camp because that is the time when the highest frequency of head injuries and overall impacts occur. This is partially because there are more players on the field before the final cuts, and partially because this is the start of full-contact practices after the offseason. Sills said the hope is that not only will the use of the guardian caps reduce the number of injuries suffered during training camp, but also that they will lead to fewer head injuries throughout the season due to the accumulated total impacts being lower.
"One of the things that we think is important with these caps is if we can reduce the forces that are happening in preseason, that that may well keep us safer throughout the season, because we're sort of reducing the accumulated load of impacts that'd be occurring," Sills said.
In addition to Tomlin and Rivera, other coaches have gone on record that they appreciate the addition of the guardian caps, including Colts head coach Frank Reich, who said the adoption of the shells for his team was a quick decision.
"The recommendation of the guardian cap was an easy move," Reich said. "Research just continues to show that the cumulative effect of hits over the course of a long season, it matters. So it was a very strategic move to take the time in training camp, where there's more bodies, more repetitions, put the cap on and reduce the cumulative effect of hits over the course of the season."
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel also discussed how most players adjusted to the difference quickly, and it's a simple fix that can have huge impacts on the health of players over the course of a season and a career.
"There hasn't been any pushback, I mean really after a day or two I don't think anybody's noticed," Vrabel said. "Our game is only as good as our players, our team is only as good as our players, and we need everybody. There's nothing more important than the health and safety of our players ... and not only immediate health, but the long-term health."
So when fans arrive at training camp this Saturday to celebrate the start of the season for "Back Together Saturday," they'll see a new addition to uniforms which is helping to keep their favorite players safe and healthy.
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