Details about the Catapult devices that Bengals players are wearing at training camp
CINCINNATI — The Bengals released a four-minute video of Joe Burrow throwing to his teammates on Thursday.
The rookie signal-caller threw to A.J. Green, C.J. Uzomah, Tyler Boyd, Alex Erickson and Drew Sample in the video. As excited as fans were to see Burrow on the field, a lot of them wondered what the players were wearing over their shirts?
The Catapult device [seen in the above video] is a valuable tool that plenty of NFL teams have started to use in recent seasons. It tracks everything a player does, from the number of football movements he makes during practice, to the exact number of throws a quarterback attempts.
The Bengals partnered with Catapult prior to the 2019 season. It helps manage the workload of each player and can be programmed for specific positions.
For example, Burrow's device monitors different things than the one Jonah Williams wears.
The position based metrics help keep the coaching staff aware of how much a player is doing during a practice. It can measure contact, contact load, total load, contact load percentage and load per contact metrics for an offensive lineman.
If it can help keep players fresh and healthy — especially aging stars like A.J. Green, Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins — then they're worth every penny.
The devices have a GPS tracker, so you can see where a player goes, how fast he's moving, how long he's running during a typical practice, etc.
It's just one more piece of data that the Bengals use to help protect their players, which is even more valuable right now after a virtual offseason.
For more on the Bengals, including the latest training camp news, go here!
