[ramsman34]

I have not noticed in any of the pics of players anyone wearing the new Oakley full face shield touted to protect against the corona virus.

Does anyone know if any Ram player Is using this thing?

[Elvis]

As far as i can tell no, but maybe some will when they put the pads on?

[St. Loser Fan]

As far as i can tell no, but maybe some will when they put the pads on?

When are pads/full contact okay?

[Elvis]

When are pads/full contact okay?

Monday i think, definitely next week...

[Elvis]

https://www.dailynews.com/2020/08/20/ra ... e-shields/

Rams players clearly don’t want to wear virus-blocking face shields

It was a 'cool' idea, one player says, but no Rams or Chargers have been using the much-touted devices in practice

Offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, left, seen going head to head with Ogbonnia Okoronkwo during Rams practice Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, in Thousand Oaks, says the plastic face shields intended to keep the coronavirus away from players’ noses and mouths will likely be ineffective and could come loose and possibly cut someone. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

By KEVIN MODESTI | kmodesti@scng.com | Daily News
PUBLISHED: August 20, 2020 at 9:09 a.m. | UPDATED: August 20, 2020 at 9:09 a.m.

THOUSAND OAKS — A few weeks ago, a promising plan for protecting football players from COVID-19 during practice and games involved the use of plastic face shields. They could help to keep the coronavirus away from noses and mouths. They fit easily onto helmets. They’re light, ventilated and transparent.

Now, something else is transparent: Rams players’ disdain for the idea.

In the few days that reporters have been allowed to watch practice, none of the 80 Rams players in training camp in Thousand Oaks has been seen wearing the device. Players wear cloth facemasks everywhere off the field, and the familiar tinted eye visors on it. But players seem to think wearing the shields would be ineffective, or impede breathing or vision, or all of the above.

No Chargers players practicing in Costa Mesa have been seen wearing one either.

Of a handful of Rams asked about the face shields, only wide receiver Robert Woods sounded remotely interested, and that was more than two weeks ago, before players started practicing in helmets.

Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth said Wednesday the idea “sounded cool” at first.

But he decided it wouldn’t work, even though the masks are designed with holes that block liquid droplets while letting breath in and out.

“If it’s got a hole, it’s going through there, I can assure you, because we’re exerting so much sweat and snot and spit and everything else,” said Whitworth, a 15-year NFL veteran who had the coronavirus, as did his family, in June.

Whitworth said he worried a plastic shield could come loose and cut flesh.

“I just don’t see a lot of guys being comfortable with that in the field of play,” he said.

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who was one of the first elite players to express skepticism when asked about the face shield in early August, said Wednesday he hasn’t seen any Rams try it but didn’t take credit for influencing anybody.

“No, everybody makes their own decisions. We’re all grown men,” Donald said. “In my opinion, I don’t think it’s helping nothing if you wear it. We’re still out there tackling each other, sweating on each other. So, that little mask right there ain’t going to protect nothing.

“If somebody (does have) the virus, we’re just going get it too, so we’ve just got to go out there and play and hopefully everybody’s good.”

The NFL agreed to test players for the virus every day, with the goal of keeping the coronavirus from getting into team facilities. It’s generally agreed that if a player had it, he might pass it along to teammates or opponents, given the amount of contact in football.

During negotiations with NFL owners over protocols to fend off the coronavirus, players shot down the idea of wearing cloth facemasks in practice and games like the way people are supposed to in supermarkets.

Then Oakley, Inc., the Lake Forest-based sunglasses manufacturer that makes the eye visors worn on helmets by more than 700 professional players, came up with a design for plastic face shields.

Dr. Jeff Crandall, chairman of the NFL’s Engineering Committee, said in July the shields would be “clear plastic with slits or holes in it that block any direct path of a droplet, but do promote air flow, communication, sound waves.”

It was up to individual players whether to wear the shields. On Tuesday’s episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” a few Rams and Chargers were seen being shown how they snap into place behind the bars of a standard helmet faceguard.

That’s as far as the story went for the Rams and Chargers on “Hard Knocks” and, apparently, in life.

Some other teams have shown interest. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said this week that some of his players have experimented with wearing the shields.

Buffalo Bills linebacker Jerry Hughes posted an image of a helmet with a face shield on Instagram, though it wasn’t clear if he was endorsing the shield.

Rams safety John Johnson, who wears an eye visor, said Aug. 13 he thought a shield over the lower part of his face might make it harder to breathe.

“That’s why I don’t even want to dabble with it,” Johnson said. “If it was close to 100% in protecting me, then maybe I would wear it. But I don’t see how that’s going to help anything.

“So I’m not going to wear it.”

Staff writer Gilbert Manzano and the Associated Press contributed to this report.