When Monday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets started, the focus was on future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers making his Jets debut. That changed quickly.
Rodgers was sacked on New York’s opening possession. And while nothing about the sack seemed particularly brutal, Rodgers quickly went to the ground in pain after getting up.
Before he could even complete his first pass with the Jets, he was walking off of the field with an injury. Rodgers briefly stayed in the medical tent before getting carted away.
Aaron Rodgers is being carted off. #MNF pic.twitter.com/4o7RaiC1s5
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 12, 2023
Rodgers’ injury brought up a question that has unfortunately come up before in the NFL. What in the world is going on with the turf at MetLife Stadium? The field at the home of the Jets and New York Giants has been scrutinized before. In 2020, the San Francisco 49ers suffered several injuries early in a Week 2 game against the Jets.
Rodgers’ injury resurrected those questions and concerns.
David Bakhtiari, Rodgers’ longtime teammate with the Green Bay Packers, slammed the NFL for the turf conditions.
Congrats @nfl. How many more players have to get hurt on ARTIFICIAL TURF??! 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!— David Bakhtiari (@DavidBakhtiari) September 12, 2023
He was not alone.
just going to leave this here
“The Injury Capital of the NFL” aka MetLife
they just installed a “new turf” that was supposedly safer, but… pic.twitter.com/VLioqQbXi1
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 12, 2023
If Aaron Rodgers misses an extended period of time and artificial turf seems even tangentially connected ….
Remember this is the same field where the 49ers hit their initial 2020 injury hell, including Nick Bosa's ACL
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) September 12, 2023
All in favor of burning the MetLife Field turf so new life can grow again, please raise your hand.
— Schlasser (@UrinatingTree) September 12, 2023
Ban artificial turf. Just ban it.
I don’t know if it caused that Rodgers injury but we can all guess that it didn’t help. Teams invest all this money in players and …
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) September 12, 2023
Possibly adding to the issues on Monday was the poor weather. Rain was persistent through Sunday night’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. It also rained for several hours on Monday, though it was clear by the time the time the Bills and Jets got going.
Rodgers was ruled out for the remainder of Monday’s game.
ESPN's Lisa Salters reports that Aaron Rodgers has been ruled out for the rest of the game. X-rays on the ankle were negative. #MNF pic.twitter.com/yWh6iNxAQV
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 12, 2023
And while there’s already been a lot of talk about the turf at MetLife, expect those talks to get even louder if he misses significant time.
