It’s not very often that people from Philadelphia and New York (and New Jersey) agree on something. But when it comes to criticizing MetLife Stadium and the turf issue that’s plagued players in recent years, everyone can agree it sucks. Except for the owners, I guess.
Eagles cornerback Darius Slay was asked about the season-ending injury to Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers that was suffered on Monday Night Football. He didn’t pull any punches on what he thought about the situation:
Darius Slay reacts to Aaron Rodgers’ torn Achilles: “I had high hopes for him being in a new jersey. But then MetLife, everyone knows bout that goddamn stadium. They need to get real grass. That’s trash.
“It’s obvious to see – a lot of guys have season-ending injuries there.” pic.twitter.com/VivZTwBaPT
— Josh Tolentino (@JCTSports) September 12, 2023
Amen, my man. The powers in charge finally decided to replace the turf at MetLife Stadium during the offseason. That was only after an NFLPA study proved there were safety issues with what was installed at the time.
The new FieldTurf Core system had originally gotten positive reviews from both Giants and Jets players, including Rodgers. Here’s what the signal-caller had to say about it last month (quote via ESPN):
I’m a fan of grass, for sure. Got to admit that. I like wearing seven studs and playing on grass, but I feel like the field — it’s supposedly the newest and the greatest. There’s obviously been a lot of conversation around grass field compared to turf field, but I feel like the other night, it’s been one of the best surfaces I’ve seen that’s artificial. It’s our surface, so we’re going to enjoy it. I’ve always felt a little faster on turf, so I look forward to that.
It doesn’t really matter how great the new turf system is, or how much of a role it played (or didn’t play) in Rodgers’ injury. The NFL is an industry that generates billions of dollars every season. It shouldn’t be that hard to install and maintain grass fields in all 30 stadiums across the league.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
