The field conditions for Thursday night’s preseason game between the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers in Winnipeg were called into question prior to the game.
The two teams were set to kick off at 8:00 pm ET on Thursday night. However, an hour before kickoff, questions were raised. The Raiders reportedly were already planning on sitting out key players due to concerns over the field conditions. The Packers apparently were considering the same thing.
The Raiders were leery of the turf and weren’t planning to play many starters tonight. (@VicTafur mentioned this in his story yesterday.) Didn’t hear too much of the same from the Packers side but they’re getting their looks now. https://t.co/P5VTSeCe97
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 22, 2019
The other thing being mulled is an 80-yard field to avoid the end zone, source says. But few people seem to know how that’ll even work. Again, stay tuned.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 22, 2019
Additionally, NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo mentioned there was consideration to using a shortened field to avoid the end zones where patches of grass filled in where the goal posts usually stand for CFL games.
I’ve just been told that the game will be played, but there is talk of using a “shortened field.” Nothing is official right now. The concern rests on the patches of turf that are covering where the #CFL goalposts are normally placed in each endzone. #GBvsOAK #Raiders #Packers pic.twitter.com/51vtwGAHBd
— Josh Moser (@TheMozKnowz) August 22, 2019
The site of the game is IG Field, which is on the University of Manitoba campus. The field is the home of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
