Eagles Players, like Many Before Them, Think the Turf in Houston Is Garbage

Photo Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

For a couple of seasons now, players in Houston have had problems with the patchwork turf of NRG Stadium (formerly Reliant Stadium). This season, Jadeveon Clowney reportedly said he suffered an injury due to stepping in “one of the holes” on the field. And with two non-contact injuries happening this past weekend (Arian Foster, DeMeco Ryans), Eagles players have called the turf into question as well.

While Connor Barwin (who has played on the field extensively and talked to DeMeco Ryans about his injury) doesn’t think the injuries had anything to do with the turf, other players don’t seem too sure. Jason Kelce called it a “pretty dangerous playing surface,” while Mychal Kendricks said, “something needs to be done about it. Absolutely.” But will anybody do anything about it? “It’s always been like that, man,” Cary Williams said. “I’m sure the league evaluates it. If they deem it safe to play as players, then it’s deemed as safe. But I don’t like it, I’ve never liked it.” But the most damning quote came from LeSean McCoy:

“Yeah, that field is terrible, bad, bad. Probably the worst field I ever played on.

There’s so many holes, potholes in it, rocky. It’s like they measured the squares out and put them in piece by piece. There’s so many holes, it’s like this can’t be a real NFL field. The stadium’s actually nice, but the field is so bad.”

If you’re wondering why the surface in Houston is any different, it’s because the grass is grown outside the stadium and then carted in and laid down in squares, and brought back out after the game to be exposed to sunlight and fertilization. It’s put on and taken off like a basketball court, and no, that doesn’t make any sense.

via Matt Hammond of CBS Houston