INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts coach Shane Steichen announced Wednesday that linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither will have the “green dot” radio helmet Sunday night in Kansas City.
Teams designate one offensive player and one defensive player to have radio contact with the play-callers, and those wearing the green dots then relay the play calls to their teammates.
The move comes in the wake of Sunday's 41-23 season-opening loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
On Monday, Steichen told reporters the defense needed to improve both its communication and tackling.
Most NFL teams give linebackers the responsibility of wearing the radio helmet on defense, but the Colts opted to use safety Cam Bynum because of their young linebacking group.
Davis-Gaither signed with Indy as a free agent in March after spending his first five seasons in Cincinnati, all with second-year Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. Davis-Gaither played last season with Arizona and had eight tackles against the Ravens on Sunday.
“We worked through that yesterday and we're going to have Akeem do that," Steichen said in making the announcement. “I think it's going to be better for everyone to communicate. It'll free up Cam on the back end as well to communicate with those guys. We've got a lot of respect for Cam. Cam knows the defense really well, but I think it's just going to be better from a communications standpoint for everybody.”
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