Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett sustained two concussions last season and is determined to try and prevent himself from suffering another one anytime soon. Pickett was spotted wearing a new helmet yesterday during OTA’s, one that is specifically designed to reduce concussions in quarterbacks.
Today, Pickett joined Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller on The PM Show on 93.7 The Fan and spoke on his decision to change helmets.
“I show up and there’s this new helmet there,” said Pickett. “So I said, ‘Alright, this is my helmet for the day.’ I trust our equipment guys. We got the best staff in the league, I think, they do a great job in there. They had a new helmet like, ‘Hey, this is the new quarterback one, do you want to try it?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, throw it in there.’ So [I] just tried it, feeling comfortable with it, it’s nice. Yeah, I’ll probably roll with it.”
Pickett clearly has trust in the equipment staff and the Steelers obviously want to protect Pickett as they view him as their franchise quarterback. Concussions are scary and having two in one season is concerning, so doing anything to avoid concussions is a good thing. After his second concussion last year, Pickett changed his helmet but with the VICIS Zero2 coming out, the Steelers equipment staff clearly felt it was better than the Ridell Axiom he switched to last season.
For Pickett, it is going to be important for him to juggle having a comfortable helmet while also having it be safer. What is nice is that it seems the VICIS Zero2 is comfortable and that Pickett will wear it this season. If it helps him avoid a concussion by limiting the impact of when his head hits the ground, it will certainly be a win all around.
This past season was a rough year for concussions in the NFL with Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffering multiple concussions, including a severe one on Thursday Night Football that saw him go into the fencing pose after a hit. With Tagovailoa and Pickett’s concussions being big news throughout the nation, it is essential that concussions get cut down. Hopefully this new helmet will help prevent Pickett from future concussions.
