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Week 4 of the NFL season saw a number of endings, two of which were season ending.
Malik Nabers and Tyreek Hill both tore their ACLs, Trey Benson injured his knee and Lamar Jackson tweaked a hamstring, just to name a few.
Specifically, in Nabers’ case, that injury occurred on what has become a notorious turf surface at MetLife Stadium, which has also claimed other players’ seasons to serious injuries, including multiple ACL and Achilles tears.
The NFL Players Association has called for all fields to be grass, but plenty of stadiums have been slow to act.
However, legendary NFL receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who never played fewer than 13 games in a season and played in every game in 13 of his 17 campaigns, does not feel that implementing grass at all 30 NFL stadiums is even possible.
“I don’t think it’s feasible in most places. I mean, MetLife Stadium is probably used 100 days a year, and only 20 of them are for football games. You’re hosting Bruce Springsteen concerts, monster truck rallies. I just don’t think grass would do well in that environment,” Fitzgerald told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
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Fitzgerald also noted that sometimes, the nature of football results in injuries no matter the surface, the longtime wide receiver said.
“I was at the 49ers-Cardinals game, and I saw James Conner break his ankle on grass. I saw Nick Bosa blow his ACL on grass. When you have 300-pound people running into each other full-speed, these are strong, physical dudes. If they played in bubble wrap, guys would get hurt.”
Hill’s injury occurred on grass, but it’s easy to say the nature of the tackle resulted in his injury. Bosa also tore his ACL at MetLife Stadium.
It should be noted that Fitzgerald played his home games at State Farm Stadium with the Arizona Cardinals, which has retractable grass. And yet that’s also where Benson suffered an injury that required surgery.
Turf, though, has typically been more prone to soft-tissue injuries, as the NFLPA has cited.
Half the league’s stadiums use turf, despite NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell saying that 92% of the league’s players prefer grass.
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