Two members of the San Francisco 49ers suffered potentially season-ending injuries in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, and the team seems to know what to blame.
MetLife Stadium had new synthetic field turf installed during the offseason, and Sunday’s game was the second to be played on it. 49ers players were complaining about the turf even before the game, and those complaints escalated during the game as players started to go down hurt.
Immediately after the game ended, Niners defensive end Arik Armstead tweeted at the NFL, urging them to fix the “trash” turf.
@nfl fix this trash met life turf . 2020 is so wack
— Arik Armstead (@arikarmstead) September 20, 2020
You can see what coach Kyle Shanahan said about the turf here.
The 49ers are set to play on the same turf again in Week 3 against the New York Giants. In postgame comments to the media, Armstead said he found that possibility “anxiety-provoking.”
#Niners Arik Armstead on playing on MetLife surface next week – "Anxiety provoking to see that happen and know that you have to deal with it again."
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) September 20, 2020
Armstead was not alone. ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported that some Niners players were “afraid and anxious” about having to play on that field again.
If the turf is as bad as it sounds, that is a huge problem. The NFL needs to step in before Week 3, if only to protect and reassure the players who are expected to play on that surface.
