[SBR Lou]

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) Taking another technological step forward, NFL owners approved a communication device for defenses Tuesday.

One defensive player will wear a helmet similar to what the quarterback is allowed on offense. Should that player leave the game, another player can be designated to also have the device. But only one defender with the device can be on the field at a time.

"We want to safeguard against a situation with two players on the field at the same time with the helmet communication," said Atlanta Falcons president and competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay.

"We are talking about a three-down player, perhaps a linebacker who doesn't come off the field," added Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the other co-chairman of the committee that recommended instituting the device. Fisher has just such a player in Keith Bullock.

"In the event he goes down because of an injury, we'd identify our backup player as another three-down player."

Fisher noted this change won't eliminate entirely the need for signals from the sideline, something that pretty much has disappeared for offenses.

"The defense will still have need to signal in a hurry-up situation, where the ball is snapped very early," he said.

The vote was 25-7 in favor -- 24 yes votes were required -- and all seven negatives came from head coaches with offensive backgrounds.

Voting against the measure were Seattle (Mike Holmgren), Tampa Bay (Jon Gruden), Oakland (Lane Kiffin), Philadelphia (Andy Reid), St. Louis (Scott Linehan), Washington (Jim Zorn) and Green Bay (Mike McCarthy).

New England coach Bill Belichick, whose involvement in the Spygate scandal that included taping opposing coaches' defensive signals made the communication device a hotter topic, voted for the proposal.

"I've been for that ever since the thing with the quarterbacks came out," Belichick said. "The problem is just how to do it. The concept of it is fine, but the logistics of it are a little bit of a different story. You don't always have a quarterback in the game on defense, like you do on offense. It's a little bit of a different setup.

"There is a substitution issue. Even the way it's proposed now if you have a middle linebacker like Brian Urlacher or Ray Lewis, or somebody like that who played on every single play on defense as kind of the equivalent of the offensive quarterback, then that's one thing. A lot of teams don't have that, and I'd say we would fall into that category."

The owners also tabled discussion of a rule banning a player's hair from flowing over the nameplate and number on the back of the uniform.

Sounds good..

[ShamsWoof10]

I can see where coaches are going to run into problems with substitutions and injuries... What if you want two of your players in there at the sametime for a situation and both have the devices in their helmets..?

We'll see how this pans out but at 3K a pop for the interior pieces of the helmet (speakers, fiber-optic wiring, modulator, and reciever) that's not exactly cheap... You would think that's chump change but I remember talking to the Jags. equipment manager about 8 years ago and he told me someone played a joke on Mark Brunell and flooded his helmet.. This caused the device not to work... They didn't buy a new one they spent a few days blow drying it, airing it out, and doing what they could to get it dry... It worked again but they didn't just go and buy a new one...

[thegreatdiatchi]

I think we will just see more guys switching helmets as they come off the field. I like this idea since the emphasis has been on offense for the past few years.