Head injuries are just a common occurrence nowadays in the NFL, especially for quarterbacks. And after Tua Tagovailoa dealt with numerous concussions throughout the 2022 season, the league has introduced a new helmet for signal-callers that can hopefully help lessen the damage.
Via Judy Battista of NFL.com:
The long-awaited helmet designed specifically to protect QB heads when they hit the ground is available, promising better impact mitigation than a regular helmet. Will players wear it? We'll see. Only a handful of players wore linemen-specific helmets that were available in 2022. https://t.co/xvqH92gabx
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) April 13, 2023
As Battista noted, only a select few linemen wore specific helmets to protect them last year. It remains to be seen if quarterbacks will actually opt to wear this helmet. If it helps them stay on the field, you'd have to expect they will.
According to studies, concussions were up 18% in 22′ and of course, the protocols were heavily scrutinized because of the Tua drama.
This new helmet has already undergone testing to see if it would be effective to reduce concussions and it passed the test. The NFL released a statement on why they've opted to introduce this new piece of equipment:
“The thing that distinguishes quarterbacks and their concussions is they have a disproportionate number of head-to-ground impacts that cause concussions,” said Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy. “This past year we had an increase in the number of quarterback concussions, and it was the same helmet-to-ground dynamic. Many people would say it's because quarterbacks are scrambling more often, but we didn't see that. It was still the quarterback in the pocket, getting hit and the head hitting the ground as they were holding onto the ball.”
It may take some time for this new helmet to catch on, but quarterbacks across the league would be smart to wear it moving forward if they want to steer clear of head injuries.
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