NFL Achieves Historic Low in Preseason Concussions, Marking a Significant Milestone in Player Safety Efforts

The National Football League reported the lowest number of concussions during the preseason season since it began keeping track in 2015, with 44 concussions in practices and games. That's a decrease of about 24% from the previous year.

Rule Changes and Equipment Innovations Continue to Affect Concussions

According to Jeff Miller, who is the executive vice president of the NFL and oversees player health and safety, it was a trend that would have been shaped by several factors. These included rule changes, equipment innovations like the Guardian Cap, and efforts that continue to curb injuries. "The reason for that change has certainly to do with changes to rules, changes to equipment, as well as a host of other efforts we've made over the years to drive the numbers down," Miller explained.

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New Kickoff Rule Appears to Result in Lower Overall Injury Rate, Concussions Continue

A new kickoff rule introduced by the NFL resulted in an apparent overall lower injury rate for players, despite the fact that some of these plays still included concussions. According to Miller, "We saw a couple more concussions on the dynamic kickoff than we thought we would see. We haven't seen any concussions in the first three weeks of the dynamic kickoff in the regular season."

A Higher Percentage of High-Performing Helmets Indicates Safer Players

Of all the players, nearly 99% will be wearing high-performance helmets, and more than 250 players will wear helmets that the league has stated provide equal or greater protection compared to those where the Guardian Cap is worn. There was a noted nearly 50% drop in concussion cases among players wearing the Guardian Cap during the mandatory sessions compared with the average before the mandate.

Tua Tagovailoa's second concussion will likely bring more controversy

The problem of injuries reared its ugly head again on Tua Tagovailoa's four diagnosed concussion in five years when the Dolphins quarterback took a scary hit early in Week 2. NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said MINT, that according to the center, "I know he is seeing some top experts."

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