The first quarterback-specific helmet designed to assist cut back concussions has been authorised to be used by the NFL and NFLPA, the AP has discovered.

The helmet, manufactured by Vicis, reduces severity of helmet-to-ground impacts, which league knowledge says account for about half of quarterback concussions, together with the one suffered by Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa final season when his head slammed violently in opposition to the turf throughout a Thursday night time recreation in opposition to Cincinnati.

“We’ve now analyzed with our engineers and with the Players Association more than a 1,000 concussions on field, we have a pretty good database of how these injuries occur,” NFL govt Jeff Miller advised the AP concerning the helmet-to-ground impacts. “This helmet performs better in laboratory testing than any helmets we have ever seen for those sorts of impacts.”

The helmet carried out 7% higher than the most well-liked helmet worn by quarterbacks final season, the league mentioned in a memo despatched to group executives on Thursday.

Jason Neubauer, an govt for Vicis, mentioned the corporate started designing its Zero2 Matrix QB helmet in early 2022.

“The unique thing is that it has a deformal outer shell, which means when you take an impact in any location on that helmet, it will deform or basically dent in that location to absorb the impact,” Neubauer mentioned. “What that means for us, as designers or engineers, as we’re looking to optimize it for different types of impacts, we’re able to change unique locations to try to optimize the impact mitigation in any one area.”

It’s unknown what number of quarterbacks will change to the brand new QB-specific helmet. The league and the gamers’ union share data from the helmet research with groups so gamers make knowledgeable choices on helmet selection. The solely different position-specific helmet already authorised is the Vicis Zero2-R Trench for offensive and defensive linemen.

The memo despatched to groups additionally consists of the outcomes of the 2023 helmet laboratory testing research. Miller advised the AP seven helmets the league extremely advisable in 2020 have now been downgraded to prohibited on account of new testing.

“That’s a great sign,” Miller mentioned. “Hopefully we can continue to stimulate that either with position-specific helmets designed for each position group or for a general all-purpose helmet to be able to say to players: ‘Work with us, be willing to change helmets because better and better products are coming online every year.’”

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