The NFL is taking another huge step in its bid to improve player safety while specifically attempting to reduce head injuries in an inherently violent sport.

The league revealed Thursday that Guardian Caps, which have steadily become a fixture in practices, will be authorized for use in games during the 2024 season, Nate Davis of USA Today Sports reports.

“So we have expanded the (practice) mandate to all players with still the option for quarterbacks, kickers, and punters. But then also there is the option for a player to wear it in the game if he so chooses,” Dawn Aponte, the NFL's chief administrator of football operations, said during a health and safety webinar.

"There were a number of clubs that had already required all of their players to wear those (in helmeted practices)."

It's something of a seismic shift as it pertains to game day, but players have generally embraced the padded covers attached to the outside of the helmet. Per league analytics collected over the past decade, "if one player is wearing the Guardian Cap at the time of a helmet hit, the cap will absorb at least 10 percent of the force. If both players are wearing the cap and have a helmet-to-helmet hit, the force of the impact is reduced by at least 20 percent."

“It’s really become a norm here," said Los Angeles Rams equipment director Brendan Burger. "The players know the Caps. They’ve seen the data, it works. The Guardian Caps have become another piece of equipment that they take to practice. You think about all the head impacts that we’re reducing from players wearing them and it’s second nature now.”

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