HEADLINES

Antonio Brown Practicing In Certified Helmet

August 20th, 2019 at 4:30pm CST by Rory Parks

Raiders GM Mike Mayock expressed his frustrations with Antonio Brown over the weekend, and he implied that he wouldn’t entertain Brown’s drama much longer. Mayock said, “[h]e’s upset about the helmet issue. We have supported that; we appreciate that. At this point, we’ve pretty much exhausted all avenues of relief. From our perspective, it’s time for him to be all-in or all-out.”

Whether Mayock’s words were the impetus behind it or not, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that Brown — who reported to practice on Monday, though the club’s walk-through was ultimately canceled — practiced today with a certified helmet (Twitter link). Obviously, that’s a good sign for the Raiders, as it suggests that even if Brown loses his second helmet-related grievance, he will play nicely and go along with whatever headgear the league tells him he must wear.

Speaking of that second grievance, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that an arbitrator will hear Brown’s case on Friday, so this matter should be wrapped up fairly quickly. But since Brown is involved, it’s hard to say for certain.

Brown, of course, had been trying to have his prized Schutt AiR Advantage helmet certified by the league, and Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic says that the NFL’s Canadian testing lab has ordered some 2011 Schutt helmets from Virginia Tech (Twitter link). Earlier reports suggested that a 2011 Schutt AiR Advantage failed safety testing, but perhaps the league is attempting to compromise by finding AB a different model from the same maker.

We should have some more clarity after Friday’s hearing, but you can probably expect to hear more Brown-related reports in the meantime.

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