Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay didn’t hold back when asked his thoughts regarding New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers tearing his Achilles on Monday Night Football. Slay pointed to the artificial turf being used at MetLife Stadium as the reason why Rodgers suffered the season-ending injury.
“It’s obvious to see – a lot of guys have season-ending injuries there,” said Slay.
He has a point. There have been multiple high-profile athletes who have recently suffered serious injuries at MetLife Stadium. For example, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Award winner Nick Bosa tore his ACL on the turf in 2020 when the Jets hosted the San Francisco 49ers for a regular season matchup.
New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard has torn both an Achilles and an ACL while playing for the Giants on his home turf at MetLife Stadium. How many more players need to get injured for the NFL to take notice? Why do half of the stadiums in the NFL still play on artificial turf?
Slay was just as excited as everyone else to see how Rodgers performed in his first season with the Jets. “I had high hopes for him being in a new jersey. But then MetLife, everyone knows about that goddamn stadium. They need real grass.”
The Jets landing Rodgers in an offseason trade was arguably the biggest storyline heading into the 2023-24 NFL season. Sadly, it only took four offensive snaps on MetLife Stadium’s artificial turf for that story to come to an end.
