Aaron Rodgers torn Achilles: NFLPA asks owners to replace turf fields with real grass

After the season-ending injury suffered by New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the National Football League Players Association is urging team owners to remove turf surfaces and replace the synthetic fields with natural grass.

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Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon during the first quarter of his Jets debut against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium, The Associated Press reported. The stadium has a FieldTurf Core that is said to help prevent lower-body injuries, USA Today reported.

However, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell said that it doesn’t protect players enough and real grass is one of their top desires.

“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,” Howell said in a statement posted to social media.

Howell said that when international soccer matches, such as one between Manchester United and Arsenal, are played at MetLife this summer, the turf field will be switched out for grass.

“It makes no sense that stadiums can flip over to superior grass surfaces when the World Cup comes or soccer clubs come to visits for exhibition games in the summer, but inferior artificial surfaces are acceptable for our own players,” Howell said, according to USA Today. “This is worth the investment and it simply needs to change now.”

Howell added that he understands that there is an investment in making the change, but that it’s less than the loss the league suffers when its players suffer “unnecessary injuries,” the AP reported.

The NFLPA earlier this year said that there was an increase in non-contact injuries to players on artificial surfaces when compared to grass fields, according to studies tracking injuries from 2012 to 2022.

Rodgers was among the players who spoke out about wanting real grass last November when he played with the Green Bay Packers, saying that some turf fields are softer and his foot wobbles when it hits the ground.

“It’s that wobble that can cause some of these non-contact knee injuries that we’ve seen,” Rodgers said months ago, according to the AP. “I’m not sure if that’s the standard that’s set for that type of surface or it’s the installation of that surface, but a lot of that could be just done away with if we had grass in every stadium.”

Jets coach Robert Saleh said on Tuesday that the turf field at MetLife Stadium, which was installed this year, didn’t seem to be a factor in Rodgers’ injury.

“If it was a non-contact injury, then I think that would be something to discuss, obviously,” Saleh said, the AP reported. “But that was kind of forceable, I think that was trauma-induced. I do know the players prefer grass and there is a lot invested in those young men.”

Rodgers was tackled by Bills defender Leonard Floyd.

Not everyone backs the replacement, however. The Tennessee Titans have a new artificial surface after having issues maintaining living grass for nearly a quarter of a century.

Titans’ coach Mike Vrabel said that the field is different but feels great.

“From a temperature standpoint, fantastic product to be able to play games here when it’s 100 degrees and not have the field be 130,” Vrabel said.

The University of Virginia’s wide receiver, Bru McCoy, said the field at the Titans’ Nissan Stadium was bouncy and adjustments were needed, but that the field made him feel fast.

“At times, it felt like it had give,” McCoy said, the AP reported. “At times, it felt like you could really put your foot in the ground. No issues with it.”

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