Safety First? Packers Question Protective Guardian Cap

Coach Matt LaFleur understands the logic but has concerns about the protective shell covering the helmets of come players.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – There are some good reasons why many members of the Green Bay Packers don’t like the Guardian Caps, the protective devices being worn over the helmets of the players who line up near the ball.

And then there’s Kenny Clark’s reason.

“Just looking at them just irritates me, honestly,” the Pro Bowl defensive tackle said at training camp this week. “I don’t even like looking at them. It’s like a big, ol’ mushroom.”

The looks, of course, are irrelevant. According to the NFL, the Guardian Cap results in at least a 10 percent reduction in the severity of impact if one player is wearing it, and at least a 20 percent reduction in impact if two players are wearing them.

According to a league press release trumpeting the development, the NFL and NFLPA, “through their biomechanical engineering experts,” worked collaboratively with the Guardian Cap manufacturer “to test and evolve the design of a cap that withstands impacts NFL players experience on the field.” That information derives from the vast amount of data collected during games. That data was used in laboratory simulations in the development of the protective shell.

By rule, offensive and defensive linemen, tight ends and linebackers have to wear the Guardian Cap, like it or not. At coach Matt LaFleur’s request, the Packers started training camp with all 90 players wearing the cap. By the end of Day 2, every running back, receiver and defensive back had tossed them aside.

LaFleur consulted with his colleagues around the NFL as well as in college, where usage of the Guardian Cap is much more widespread, before formulating his policy. He understands the science; he also understands the law of unintended consequences.

“It truly is about player safety and you’re talking about your brain. That is pretty important,” LaFleur said. “I’d be all in favor of whatever helps our guys live a long, healthy life. The thing I somewhat worry about is when you do have that cushion on your helmet, and we’re making a huge emphasis with our coaches about this, I don't want the guys to feel the confidence that they can now use their head. So, that’s one of the things that’s not so great about it is you can get a false confidence and now your technique suffers, and I definitely don't want to see us go that way.”

LaFleur had another issue, too. A player needs training camp to get used to the physicality and stress on the body. LaFleur wasn’t talking about head injuries in this case, but he used the phrase “callous your guys.” A head-first collision with AJ Dillon isn’t a typical part of Clark’s ordinary life.

“What happens when they take them off and now that they haven’t had that feeling of what it really feels like and now it’s live action?” LaFleur wondered.

New York Jets coach Robert Saleh, a close friend of LaFleur, had the same concern.

“I do think because of the soft blow, it’s kind of lending the players to use their heads a little bit more,” Saleh told reporters in New York this week. “I do think the first time when they take it off – anybody who has played football knows the first time you take your helmet off or you hit with the helmet or you have a collision, there’s a shock. I do think that if you’re waiting until the first game for that shock to happen. … I don’t know, time will tell. It’s just interesting with those Guardian Caps and what exactly are we trying to accomplish.”

Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s Chief Medical Officer, responded in a statement provided to ESPN.com Jets beat writer Rich Cimini.

“The brain does not acclimate to head impacts,” Sills said. “The Guardian Cap helps mitigate those forces at a time of the season when we see the greatest concentration of them.”

For the linemen, tight ends and linebackers, they must wear the Guardian Cap at practice through the week of the second preseason game.

No player interviewed for this story offered a substantive opinion, perhaps to not ruffle feathers.

“Football is football,” outside linebacker Rashan Gary said. “Take them off, still got to hit. Put them on, still got to hit.”

Last year, according to league data, there were a total of 187 concussions between training camp, preseason games, in-season practices and regular-season games. About 16 percent of those concussions came on the training camp practice field.

“I think the intent is totally legit,” LaFleur said. “But I don’t understand, if they’re going to wear them in practice, why aren’t we wearing them in the game?”

The Guardian Cap is the latest in the NFL’s effort to reduce head injuries. Due to better helmets and rules changes aimed at eliminating helmet-to-helmet contact, the league said there has been a 25 percent reduction in the number of concussions the past four season compared to the previous three. From the start of training camp to the end of the regular season in 2017, there were 281 concussions. Last year, there were 187.