The NFL has been using the guardian cap for training camps for a while now. You’ve probably seen them in photos.
It’s a giant cushion that goes over your regular football helmet and is designed to help prevent concussions. This season, for the first time, the NFL gave players the option to wear the guardian caps during games.
Not many players in the league took him up on the offer, but one star player did: Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.
Taylor wore the cap during Sunday’s preseason game against the Denver Broncos. It looks odd when the camera zooms in, with a cover with the Colts logo stretched across it.
It’s not a huge distraction and it’s positive if it prevents concussions. Colts tight end Kylen Granson was another player to wear the cap during the first week of preseason.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman James Daniels wore it on Saturday, becoming the first to do so.
“My head doesn’t hurt, so that’s good,” Daniels said after the game, via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Hopefully more and more people will start wearing them.”
Not everyone was a fan, though. Vikings pass rusher Jonathan Greenard responded to Taylor’s look with a succinct response on Sunday.
It doesn’t look fashionable and it’s not normal, which is why you didn’t see many players wearing them the first week of preseason. Maybe it will become more common with players like Taylor trying them out. It’s just another thing NFL fans have to get used to this season.
