He didn’t have it for offseason workouts, as the attached photo illustrates. He does have it for training camp.
Via SI.com, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has switched to the new position-specific helmet from Vicis.
The helmet is designed to reduce concussions suffered when quarterbacks land on the ground and strike the backs of their helmets against the turf. That motion potentially caused multiple concussions last year for the likes of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, who had two concussions as a rookie in 2023, also will be wearing the new helmet.
Burrow has no official history of concussions at the college or pro level. Last year, however, he acknowledged that he has had head injuries.
“Yeah, it’s definitely happened,” Burrow said in October 2022. “For sure. Stuff like that happens all the time.”
And while he never has had issues the day after a game, he has had symptoms on game day — symptoms he apparently kept to himself.
“It’s more of a fuzzy recollection,” Burrow added in October. “You don’t remember the individual plays, but you remember what happened in the game.”
Burrow accepts those risks.
“That’s part of the game, I think,” Burrow said. “Part of what we signed up for. You’re gonna have head injuries, you’re gonna tear your ACL, you’re gonna break your arm. That’s the game that we play. That’s the life that we live. And we get paid handsomely for it.”
Still, Burrow apparently realizes that, if there’s a way to reduce the consequences of what he has signed up for, he’ll sign up for that, too.
