Big Ten teams regulated to helmets only in practice until further notice

WEST LAFAYETTE - The Big Ten announced Saturday morning all football programs will wear only helmets during preseason practices until further notice. 

Leaning on the advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, the conference said the first two days of the acclimatization period will continue. 

In its statement, the Big Ten said "each new phase of activity provides new intelligence and experience and allows us to evaluate the implementation of our conference and institutional medical protocols in real-time.

"In order to make the right health and safety decisions for our student-athletes, we believe it is best to continue in the appropriate phase of activity referenced above while we digest and share information from each campus to ensure we are moving forward cautiously."

Helmets are the only piece of equipment (no shoulder pads) that athletes may wear. 

The league said other fall sports will continue to work locally with team physicians and athletic trainers to adjust practices to the appropriate level of activity, as necessary, based on current medical protocols.

Also Saturday, the Mid-American Conference canceled its fall sports season becoming the first FBS league to stop playing in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, Connecticut became the first FBS program to cancel its season. 

Mike Carmin covers Purdue sports for the Journal & Courier. Email mcarmin@gannett.com and follow on Twitter @carmin_jc