The NFL for the first time is prohibiting certain helmets from being worn by players.

In notifying the 32 teams Monday Hroniss Grasu Jersey , the league has sought to have players stop using 10 helmet varieties. Some, particularly those manufactured by Rawlings, no longer are being made and don't have support from the company. Others were found to be inferior to many of the 34 helmets the NFL and the players' union examined.

Previously, NFL players could choose any helmet as long as it passed certification standards. Six of the substandard helmets are prohibited immediately, while the other four may be worn by players who used them in 2017 but not by new players.

The 10 helmets are Rawlings' Impulse and Impulse+, Quantum and Tachyon; SG Varsity and SG 2.0; Schutt Vengeance Z10 (model 204100), Air XP (model 789002) and Air XP Pro (model 789102); and Riddell VSR-4 (model R41133). About 200 players used those helmets last season.

"Over the last few years we've seen some dynamic changes in the helmet industry, both from new innovators as well as new helmets and models from incumbent companies," said Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president of health and safety policy.

"There are a number of helmets for players to move to, from those that rank poorly in performing to the ones in the higher ranking.

"The purpose of the continuation to rank helmets and the joint decision with the players' association to prohibit is to increase that movement into better performing helmets. We are encouraged this is an important step for better player safety."

A survey of players revealed at least 98 percent used one or more of the 34 helmet models tested. Data also showed that concussions were up in the NFL in 2017 to 291.

Laboratory testing showed that the VICIS Zero 1 models of 2017 and 2018 rate best for player safety. A chart specifying top-to-bottom rankings for the 34 helmets is posted at every team's training facility.

"We've begun to see that over the last couple of years players moving from helmets that rank in the poorly performing areas to those that are ranging closer to the top-performing helmets," Miller said.

The 2018 Zero1 was the only new helmet model tested this year.

"We're demonstrating our commitment by setting the pace for innovation and safety Kendall Wright Jersey ," said Dave Marver, CEO of VICIS, which has been making helmets for only four years. Marver estimated 70 players were using the Zero1 by the end of the 2017 season, and he expects "200 or more" to be in them before the upcoming season kicks off.

"We already have players on 400 high schools across the country who have ordered the helmet, and we expect 50-plus colleges to have them," Marver added. "Last year we had about 20."

Marver believes a reduced helmet price from $1,500 a year ago to $950 by the end of last season 鈥?a drop enabled by higher volumes and lower manufacturing costs 鈥?and a reduction in weight by a half-pound added to the Zero1's popularity.

As for its high ranking, "players feel better when they are hit, they don't feel an impact as much. They say they don't get headaches, don't have those 'seeing stars moments.' Like how the helmet fits so when they move their heads it tracks really well. And there's the wider field of view our helmet provides."

He approves of the NFL banning certain helmets.

"I was encouraged by it because the league and union have been telling manufacturers to be more assertive about encouraging players to wear the better testing helmets. We like any movement toward rigorous testing because it makes us stand out, and we found them genuinely interested in player safety."

Miller and Dr. Jeffrey Crandall, chairman of the NFL's engineering committee Tremaine Edmunds Jersey , mentioned potential development of helmets designed for specific positions. They cautioned such an advance is years away.

"What we have done is we now have three years of video review and looked at over 350 concussions," Crandall said. "We are starting to see trends in data. It's going to be a few more years" to gather enough information to pursue position-specific helmets.

Crandall noted that sensors will be used to evaluate helmets in college football this year. He's hopeful they will be used next year in the NFL.

"That gives us all types of information on each position," Crandall explained, "and then we can put together a test and share that data with manufacturers."

鈥?So many times during the Patriots’ run of success over the past two decades, the defense was watching as Tom Brady sealed another victory.In Sunday’s 24-20 AFC championship victory over the Jacksonville , the defense got its chance to secure the Patriots’ record 10th Super Bowl appearance.Jacksonville entered the game with the best red-zone scoring percentage in NFL, scoring touchdowns on 67.9 percent of trips this season (40 on 56 drives). The Jaguars scored touchdowns on both of their red-zone trips in the first half, as quarterback Blake Bortles had his way with short and intermediate routes to pile up first downs.It added up to a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead, and left Gillette Stadium in stunned silence as New England’s hopes of getting a chance to defend its Super Bowl title seemed to be dwindling.But Jacksonville got conservative over the final 30 minutes, much like the Atlanta Falcons did with 28-3 lead in last year’s Super Bowl collapse against New England. The Patriots seized on it and the Jaguars’ offense never got closer than the Patriots’ 25 in the second half.“We put ourselves in position to come back and just keep fighting,” defensive end Tray Flowers said. “We knew they were going to run the ball, but we kept fighting and it was a fourth-quarter game.”The most telling example came after the Patriots took their final lead of the game on Danny Amendola’s 4-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone. The Jaguars initially went back to their success in the first half Tyler Kroft Jersey , starting the drive with an 8-yard completion from Bortles to Marqise Lee, followed by a 29-yard pass to Dede Westbrook to set Jacksonville up on New England’s 38.But the Patriots reset, and after an incompletion by Bortles on first down, linebackers Kyle Van Noy and James Harrison got to Bortles for a sack, prying the ball loose. Jaguars tackle Cam Robinson recovered the fumble, but it set up a third-and-19.New England kept the pressure on Bortles and he could only manage a 4-yard completion to James O’Shaughnessy.“They had maybe one or two plays that we talk about this time of year,” safety Devin McCourty said. “Sixteen games, a play or two may have success, but (Patriots defensive coordinator) Matt (Patricia) said it best: It wasn’t a big adjustment that you needed to do; it was just needing to play aggressively.”With Jacksonville facing fourth-and-15 on its 43, cornerback Stephon Gilmore reached in front of Bortles’ pass to O’Shaughnessy to force a turnover on downs.It was a special moment for Gilmore, who battled injuries and inconsistent play after signing a five-year, $65 million contract in the offseason.“It wasn’t the biggest play I’ve made Ricardo Louis Jersey , but it was definitely one of the most important,” he said. “To come from where I came from last year, and be a part of this great team … I love it and that’s why I decided to come here.”For Bortles, it was his first loss this season when he didn’t commit a turnover. He was previously 8-0.“We had a two-minute drive at the end of the game to win the AFC championship, so there’s not a whole lot more you can ask for than that,” Bortles said. “You’ve got to take advantage of that and find a way to win the game.”And now the Patriots will have a chance at their sixth Super Bowl trophy, which would tie the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most ever.McCourty said the defense is invigorated by the opportunity.“This team is battle-tested,” McCourty said. “You go through ups and downs. You go through adversity. … We just keep giving ourselves a chance to win, and the hard work pays off.”.