In wake of Aaron Rodgers' injury, NFLPA calls for stadiums to switch to natural grass
EAST RUTHERFORD - The NFL Players Association is calling for all stadiums in the league to make the switch to natural grass in the aftermath of Aaron Rodgers' season-ending injury suffered at MetLife Stadium on Monday.
"Moving all stadium fields to high quality natural grass surfaces is the easiest decision the NFL can make," NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell said in a statement released Wednesday morning. "The players overwhelmingly prefer it and the data is clear that grass is simply safer than artificial turf. It is an issue that has been near the top of the players’ list during my team visits and one I have raised with the NFL."
During a conference call Tuesday, NFL executive vice president for health and safety innovation Jeff Miller said there were no statistical differences in injury data for Achilles' injuries suffered on natural grass vs. artificial turf fields, dating back to 2015.
On Sunday, Baltimore Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins ruptured his Achilles while playing on grass.
The newly-installed FieldTurf Core surface is described as "a multilayer, dual-polymer monofilament fiber" artificial surface, and it was put down both at MetLife Stadium and inside the Giants' practice field house across the parking lot this offseason. The immediate feedback from Giants players this summer was that the surface was more forgiving than the previous one, although there was still support to make the switch to natural grass league-wide.
Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard tore his Achilles and his ACL in separate injuries in back-to-back seasons on the old turf at MetLife Stadium.
“It’s a little better but turf is turf to me, you know what I mean,” Shepard said last month. “You wish you were playing on the same surface every time you step out on the field. It’s turf at the end of the day … The other one was a little bit, I guess, thinner, than this one we have now."
Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters on a video call Tuesday that it is hard to blame Rodgers' injury on the playing surface.
"If it was a non-contact injury, I think that’d be something to discuss obviously," Saleh said. "But I think [Rodgers' injury] was trauma-induced. I do know the players prefer grass and there’s a lot invested in those young men."
How did Aaron Rodgers get injured?
Rodgers was sacked by Buffalo Bills pass rusher Leonard Floyd four plays into his Jets debut when his left leg was caught underneath him. Television replays appeared to show a visible pop near his calf area, and Rodgers did miss time in the offseason with an injury to that calf.
What NFL players are saying
Green Bay Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari blamed the turf for Rodgers’ injury in a post on social media.
"Congrats @nfl. How many more players have to get hurt on ARTIFICIAL TURF??!" Bakhtiari wrote. "You care more about soccer players than us. You plan to remove all artificial turf for the World Cup coming up. So clearly it’s feasible. I’m sick of this. Do better!"
Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Slay didn't hold back Tuesday when speaking to reporters.
"He’s on a new (team) and then it’s like, ‘Damn, MetLife,'" said Slay, whose team plays at MetLife twice this season as they'll visit both the Giants and Jets. "Everybody knows about that goddamn stadium. They need to get real grass. That’s trash."
Then Slay let out a long sigh and added: "That’s sad for anybody to go down. I don’t like nobody to go down because we play this dangerous game. Everybody thinks we’re superheroes, but we’re really not. We’re really just normal human beings that go out there and just try to go hard at work … "I’m praying for him and his family, and I hope he come back stronger (next year)."
"While we know there is an investment to making this change, there is a bigger cost to everyone in our business if we keep losing our best players to unnecessary injuries," Howell said. "It makes no sense that stadiums can flip over to superior grass surfaces when the World Cup comes, or soccer clubs come to visit for exhibition games in the summer, but inferior artificial surfaces are acceptable for our own players. This is worth the investment and it simply needs to change now."
Martin Frank of Wilmington News Journal contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Aaron Rodgers injury: NFLPA calls for stadiums to switch to natural grass
