Nabers’ Injury: Debate Over MetLife Stadium’s Turf Reignites
The serious knee injury suffered by New York Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers has reignited the debate about the playing surface at MetLife Stadium.
An executive from an opposing team commented that their players are “terrified” to play at MetLife due to the FieldTurf artificial turf. He added that, if a player is dealing with an injury, they might be less inclined to risk playing in a game at this stadium.
Others have also expressed their concern. The interim executive director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), David White, visited Newark, New Jersey, on Monday to meet with the Giants as part of their fall meetings. During his visit, he raised the issue of the MetLife grass field and its history of season-ending lower extremity injuries.
Nabers suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his right knee on Sunday while attempting to catch a pass from Jaxson Dart. The wide receiver immediately grabbed his right leg in the air and fell sharply to the ground.
The MetLife Stadium, home of the Giants and the New York Jets, installed an updated version of FieldTurf, called the FieldTurf Core system, in 2023, hoping to reduce injuries. Last year, MetLife had one of the lowest injury rates in the league among fields using natural or artificial turf, according to the NFL. Overall, there were fewer ACL injuries last year on synthetic turf than on natural turf, and there have been no significant differences so far this year, according to the league.
At least 15 players have suffered knee ligament or Achilles tendon tears at MetLife since 2020, the majority before the installation of the new turf in March 2023. Some of the most notable include Jaelan Phillips (Achilles, 2023), Aaron Rodgers (Achilles, 2023), Wan’Dale Robinson (ACL, 2022), Sterling Shepard (ACL, 2022), Jabrill Peppers (ACL, 2021), and Nick Bosa (ACL, 2020). Wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall also suffered significant ankle injuries at MetLife in 2017.
The Jets claim that their investigations show that since 2023, natural grass fields have had more knee or Achilles ligament tears, with 38 injuries on natural grass fields and 23 on artificial turf. In addition, since the artificial turf update in 2023, 3 injuries have occurred at MetLife. They point out that many more of these types of injuries occurred at the training camp than during the season. The NFL adds that, as the home of both the Giants and the Jets, the stadium hosts twice as many games as stadiums with a single team.
According to the 2024 NFL injury data, MetLife ranked ninth in lower extremity injuries. For visiting players, who are often more vulnerable on unfamiliar surfaces, MetLife earned the best rating, being the safest in the NFL.
Social media post by Odell Beckham Jr.
In each of the last two years, more than 90% of players have expressed through the NFLPA’s annual survey their preference for playing on natural grass instead of artificial turf fields. An NFLPA official said via email this week that their office has received news from players who are “perplexed” by stadiums that are switching to natural grass for the Club World Cup and the World Cup, but are sticking with artificial turf for American football.
Despite any protests, the NFL has no plans to change the current playing surface at MetLife Stadium.
Nabers’ injury once again highlighted the turf issue, but an NFLPA official said the topic was already under debate, after Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury playing on FieldTurf at Paycor Stadium in Week 2. Burrow underwent surgery on September 19 and is expected to be out for at least three months.
The Bengals were one of the teams that switched to the FieldTurf Core system in 2024.
