Mark Roman is still getting used to that little voice in his ear telling him where to go and what to do.
The San Francisco safety knows he’ll have to adjust to the NFL’s new way of calling defensive signals with the freshly installed communication device in his helmet. At the 49ers’ minicamp, Roman and three fellow safeties joined dozens of players across the NFL this weekend as the first to try out the league’s next technological step forward.
Quarterbacks have used the sideline-to-field devices for years, allowing coaches to relay plays to the offensive huddle without elaborate hand signals or shuttling in the plays with substitutes. NFL owners only approved the headsets for defensive players at league meetings last month, overcoming a bit of dissent from offensive-minded head coaches.
“I didn’t even know the rule had passed until they said we’re going to try it with the headset,” Roman said. “It’s cool. It’s going to help out because we aren’t going to have to be scrambling to get the calls.”
Only one defensive player at a time can wear the helmets with the bright-green dot on the back. While many teams plan to put the headsets on linebackers who play every down and typically call the defensive signals in the huddle anyway, the 49ers passing the helmets around and familiarizing their safeties with the whole procedure first.
Safeties Keith Lewis, Michael Lewis and Dashon Goldson also had the headset helmets Saturday, and secondary coach Vance Joseph relayed personnel groups and plays from his sideline headset.
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