NEW YORK (AP) — Improvements that an NFL and NFLPA study found in helmets didn’t help Tom Brady.The six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback will have to discard his longtime brand as one of 11 helmets banned by the league and players’ union for 2019.Brady was one of 32 players wearing helmets last season under a grace period that is now eliminated.“If they were http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/sione-takitaki-jersey , at the end of the 2017 season, using prohibited helmeted, they could be grandfathered for 2018,” said Dr. Kristy Arbogast, the union’s appointed consultant to the testing.“At end of 2018, we had those relatively few players, 32, who were wearing a red category model. It is now prohibited. Conversations are being held with those players. We tried to identify for every helmet in the red category a similar helmet, often from the same manufacturer, that had similar look and feel and is not prohibited.”In its annual study, designed by NFL- and NFLPA-appointed biomechanical engineers, a subset of concussion-causing impacts sustained by NFL players during games is simulated to determine which helmets best reduced head impact severity. The study measures rotational velocity and acceleration to evaluate helmets.A poster both sides released Friday will be displayed at every team facility. It shows six of 11 helmets tested this year moved into the top-10 rated models.VICIS Zero1 graded best for the third straight year. Of the 34 overall helmets on the poster, it was followed by the Schutt F7 LTD and the Riddell SpeedFlex Precision Diamond.Also in the “green area” of strongly approved helmets was the brand new Xenith Shadow. In all, those four manufacturers had all 27 models at the top of the poster.The yellow section, in which helmets perform worse than the green group, had seven models.“The thing that’s really notable,” Arbogast said, “is how receptive the players were to that info; 50% moved up the poster. They are eager to have the information that helps them make informed decisions about their equipment choice.”Arbogast commended manufacturers for “innovating and introducing new helmets; the fact all new ones performed well is very encouraging.”The poster includes gray areas within the green and yellow sectors. That indicates that less than 1% of NFL players are wearing that model, providing players with additional information. But Arbogast stresses that “doesn’t mean they aren’t safe or viable options.”The 11 models in the red area Sheldrick Redwine Jersey , including Brady’s, are banned.VICIS doubled the number of NFL players using Zero1 from 2017 to ’18, with 135 players wearing it last season. Among them are league MVP Patrick Mahomes, Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman, Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, Dee Ford and Golden Tate.“My experience wearing the Zero1 has been exceptional,” Wilson said. “The custom fit and wide field of vision have allowed me to perform at my best.”VICIS has tweaked the helmet, reducing weight and cost while keeping the fundamental design.“The helmet’s deformable shell and unique … layer have been shown to reduce impact forces more effectively than other helmets,” said Dave Marver, the company’s CEO.“The NFL/NFLPA test ranks helmets using a sophisticated formula that considers several different impact velocities and locations, and the measurement of both linear and rotational forces. The Zero1 is top-ranked when taking all of those measurements into account, meaning it provides the best protection across the full range of impacts and situations players encounter in NFL play.”It has since the 2017 survey.One potential concern in the study is that manufacturers could design helmets to rate highly, but they might not necessarily be the best performers on the field.Dr. Grant Goulet, vice president of product innovation at Xenith — which had five models in the green category — noted that “these independent tests, whether by the NFL and NFLPAor by Virginia Tech … are incredibly important and providing value in this space.”“We are very supportive and encouraged by the work the NFL and NFLPA are putting into this test, it’s scientifically rigorous,” Goulet added. “However, it could also be something of a cautionary tale that more helmets moved into that green group. I think there could be a propensity to be engineering helmets for these tests and metrics and that’s what is bumping them up into this green group.“What is important to emphasize is more of a holistic approach to designing the best gear for the athlete on the field.”That Kaleb McGary Jersey , naturally, is what the entire process is about.“The importance is this is a statistical analysis of on-field performances,” said Dr. Jeffrey Crandall, the league’s consultant to the independent testing. “What we see is statistically is double-digit concussion risk deduction as we go from yellow to green and from red to yellow. That has a significant impact on the risk of concussion.” ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The Washington Redskins have lost four in a row, are down to their fourth quarterback and are mired in criticism from several players.A once-promising season has gone off the rails thanks to injuries on the offense and blown assignments and missed tackles on defense. The finger-pointing is well underway on a team that has fallen to 6-7 and there is plenty of blame to go around.Defensive backs Josh Norman and D.J. Swearinger were outspoken after the latest loss, linebacker Mason Foster vented his frustration in a private social media message that came to light and it’s becoming clear there’s a disconnect between players and coaches. While the 2017 season could be written off for injuries, everyone from team President Bruce Allen to coach Jay Gruden and defensive coordinator Greg Manusky could be in danger of losing his job.“If anyone’s going to have to take the fall, it’s going to have to be all of us — everyone in this building,” tight end Vernon Davis said Wednesday. “Everyone is just going to have to take accountability for it.”Gruden said his “job is in jeopardy every week,” so his focus is getting the team ready to face Jacksonville on Sunday. He and some players were quick to point out Washington is only a half-game out of a playoff spot, so the season is far from over.That itself is remarkable.The Redskins’ defense that ranked first in the NFL early in the season is now 20th, Alex Smith and Colt McCoy each suffered broken right legs and quarterback Josh Johnson is making his first start since 2011. Injuries have again played a role in this freefall, which points to personnel decisions made Allen, Gruden, senior vice president of player personnel Doug Williams and the rest of the front office.And even though he got an extension through 2020, Gruden is the eighth coach to work under owner Dan Snyder and is on the hot seat after just one playoff appearance in his first four seasons.“Sometimes it’s hard not to think about it because of course you’re going to get asked about it,” said running back Chris Thompson, who expressed his support for Gruden and the rest of the coaching staff. “I really don’t want to think about that too much. We got three more games to go and at this point anything could happen and then the decisions that are made upstairs Kendall Sheffield Jersey , we can’t really control that stuff.”The Redskins can control their practice habits, an area Swearinger has been critical of the past two seasons. He has raised questions about the team’s lack of preparation, a problem that has bubbled up and caused inconsistency.“I can’t tell you what needs to be changed. I ain’t the coach,” Swearinger said after a 40-16 loss to the Giants on Sunday. “We ain’t executing. We ain’t getting the job done. That’s the answer they want me to give.”Norman said he wasn’t going to blame the injury-ravaged offense or make excuses for the four-game skid. And it’s impossible to pinpoint one source of all the losing.“There’s a lot of things when you’re talking about losing a football game,” Gruden said. “If we had it narrowed down to one thing, we’d fix it and be OK. Sometimes it’s defense, sometimes it’s offense, sometimes it’s special teams, sometimes it’s coaching. It’s a combination. So it’s a matter of all of us having to step up in some key players’ absences and playing better and we haven’t done that.”Foster cursing the team and its fan base in a private message on Instagram was just the latest development in a quickly unraveling season. Gruden and Foster’s teammates brushed it off, citing the veteran’s contributions on the field.The bigger problem is the defense as a whole isn’t getting the job done.“I know for me personally the wear and tear and the grind of the season, mentally you start to just lose a little bit of focus and it’s natural,” defensive lineman Jonathan Allen said. “It’s a long season, so naturally you’re going to fall off in certain areas, and that’s the goal to not fall off.”Beating the Jaguars and getting help around the league could put the Redskins in position to still challenge for a playoff spot. In the midst of all the frustration, veteran running back Adrian Peterson wants everyone to realize the season isn’t over.“We’re only half a game out,” Peterson said. “When they show the playoff picture on ESPN, we’re there.”NOTES: TE Jordan Reed (right foot/ankle), WR Josh Doctson (concussion protocol) and DL Matt Ioannidis (shin) were among the players who didn’t practice Wednesday. … Gruden shortened practice to under 90 minutes amid his team’s injuries.