As you’re watching Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs on the field in 2025, you notice his helmet looks different.
That’s because, for the second straight season, Doubs is wearing a Guardian Cap over his helmet.
The helmet cover is intended to provide an extra layer of protection. Doubs sustained two concussions last season. The fourth-year wide receiver first wore a Guardian Cap in December 2024 when he returned from his first concussion a few weeks earlier.
Doubs would suffer another concussion during the Packers’ playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles in January on a hard fall to the playing surface at Lincoln Financial Field.
Doubs recovered but has continued to wear the helmet cover in an attempt to protect his head in 2025.
Here’s more on Doubs’ use of the helmet cover and concussion history:
Romeo Doubs helmet cover
Doubs is wearing a helmet cover again in 2025 after first wearing it late in the 2024 season following his first concussion.
Before his first concussion last season, Doubs had never worn a helmet cover during a game. But when he returned for the Packers’ “Sunday Night Football” game Dec. 15, three weeks after sustaining the concussion, he was wearing a Guardian Cap over his normal helmet.
Doubs had a breakout game, with two receiving touchdowns in the Packers’ 30-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
He continued to wear the helmet cover the rest of the season and has brought it back for 2025.
What is a Guardian Cap?
It’s a soft-shell cover over the helmet that’s intended to reduce concussions and head injuries on the field, acting as another buffer.
Romeo Doubs concussions
Doubs had never had a reported concussion in college or the NFL until 2024.
He suffered his first concussion during the Packers’ game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Nov. 24. He missed two games before returning Dec. 15 in Seattle.
He played in the Packers’ next two games before missing the regular-season finale with an illness. Doubs was back for the Packers’ divisional playoff game against the Eagles on Jan. 15.
Doubs had two catches for 13 yards before coming down hard on his head in the end zone during the third quarter. He stayed on the ground for an extended period and needed assistance in getting off the field. Doubs was diagnosed with his second concussion in less than two months.
Doubs was one of many Packers players who left the playoff loss hurt.
Helmet covers in the NFL
This is the sixth season helmet covers, also known as Guardian Caps, have been in the NFL.
They were first were seen on NFL practice fields in 2020 before nearly all the teams purchased the covers ahead of the 2021 season.
The NFL soon would make it a requirement for certain players to wear Guardian Caps during training camp and, later, regular-season and postseason practices.
Players soon started using them in games.
“Physics say that an outer ‘soft’ material of the proper density, stiffness and energy absorbing properties reduces the initial severity of the impact,” Guardian’s website says. “The hard shell then has lower forces transmitted to it, and in turn conveys lower forces to the interior soft helmet padding and then lower forces to the head.”
Packers use of Guardian Caps
Doubs isn’t the only Packers player wearing a Guardian Cap in 2025. Fellow wide receiver and kickoff returner Savion Williams is also wearing the helmet cover.
Williams, a third-round pick by the Packers in 2025, suffered a concussion early in training camp and missed two practices.
Romeo Doubs stats
Doubs began his 2025 season with a big start. A free agent after the season, he had a team-high 68 yards on two catches in the 27-13 Week 1 win over the Detroit Lions.
Here are his career stats with the Packers:
(This story has been updated to add a new photo gallery of Romeo Doubs.)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why is Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs wearing a helmet cover? Here’s more on his concussion history and use of a Guardian Cap
Reporting by Christopher Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
