In order to help protect against future concussions, Vick is planning to refit his helmet with Kevlar padding, the CEO of Unequaled Technologies told Paolantonio on Wednesday.

Rob Vito told ESPN that he will meet with Vick in Philadelphia on Friday to refit his helmet to help Vick deal with the post-concussive blows to the head in Sunday’s home opener against the New York Giants.

“The 100-year-old foam everybody is using in helmets is antiquated,” Vito said. “Concussions are the injury of our age and really they should not be happening anymore.”

– ESPN.com.

Wait, does that work? And if so, why isn’t everyone in the NFL wearing Kevlar-lined helmets?

Asomugha is a “press” corner, meaning he lines up right on top of receivers like a basketball player on defense and dares them to get past him, a technique that used to be called bump and run when a corner was permitted to be far more physical with a receiver until the ball was thrown….

Passing offenses are based on impeccable timing. Asomugha’s primary ability is to force quarterbacks to improvise. He disrupts routes through strength and technique. Asomugha engages in hand-to-hand combat in the 5-yard zone where such tangling is legal. The receiver is aiming for a clean release to get into his pattern immediately. Asomugha aims to redirect him, without grabbing a fistful of jersey or getting too blatant with his grappling.

– Robert Weintraub, N.Y. Times.

Click through and read all of Weintraub’s very technical feature on Nnamdi Asomugha. It makes me miss the hell out of playing football.

After Michael Vick left last night’s game with a head injury, the Eagles turned to a quarterback named Mike Kafka. The broadcast didn’t make nearly enough jokes about his name.

In 2006, I watched a pitcher named Ari Kafka enter a game for the Everett AquaSox of the the Northwest League. It was the AquaSox’ season opener, and Kafka faced several hitters and left without retiring any of them, finishing the day with a rather Kafkaesque infinite ERA.

*- I don’t think this is actually a word. Is there a verb form of metamorphosis, or is it just morph?

The Carolina Panthers hope tight end Jeremy Shockey will be clutch in their passing game this season. He’s already come up big this year in another department — saving a life.

The agent for tight end Ben Hartsock told the National Football Post that Shockey came to the aid of his client in the Panthers’ lunch room when a piece of pork tenderloin became lodged in Hartsock’s throat.

“(Hartsock) started to go to the bathroom and I don’t know if he collapsed, but he couldn’t breathe,” agent Mike McCartney told the website. “Some new guy came and tried to give him the Heimlich. It didn’t work. Then, Shockey hit him in the back pretty hard and out came the meat. The Panthers told me it was really scary.

– Pat Yasinskas, ESPN.com.

How good must the pork in the Panthers’ lunch room be if Ben Hartsock isn’t even bothering to chew it before swallowing? Also, I wonder how much pork you need to buy to feed an entire NFL team.

Furthermore, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note the non-zero chance Shockey just happened to punch Hartsock in the back at exactly the time Hartsock was choking, rendering the former Giant an accidental, Larry David-style hero.

Is it me or have there been a lot of Heimlich-related news stories lately?

Via Mike.

An enterprising Patriots reporter slipped in a waterslide question in a media session with Tom Brady. Brady played it cool:

Seems a lot more collected than he was, you know, on the waterslide:

Hat tip to Ian Rapoport at the Boston Herald.