The playing surface at MetLife Stadium has come under fire this week after five San Francisco 49er starters suffered severe leg injuries in their 31-13 victory over the New York Jets last week.
Defensive lineman Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas both tore their ACL in the game and will miss the remainder of the 2020 season as a result. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo sustained an ankle injury that will likely keep him out of this week’s game against the Giants, which is also to be played at MetLife.
In addition, the Niners’ top two running backs – Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman – left last week’s games with sprained knees and will likely be out several weeks.
Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan had no recourse but to question the integrity of the playing surface at MetLife after the game. The complaints were that the turf, Act Global Speed S5 through 2019 Fieldturf which was installed this year, was ‘sticky’ and difficult to navigate. It didn’t stop San Francisco from routing the Jets, however.
The NFL took a second look into the matter on Wednesday and once again, revealed the surface is up to code.
“Yesterday, representatives from the NFL, NFLPA, MetLife Stadium, the Giants and Jets, Field Turf and the independent field inspector conducted an additional review of the field surface at MetLife Stadium. The group again verified that the field meets all applicable standards and protocols for NFL field surfaces.”
The Niners play of their home games on grass and perhaps were either wearing the wrong footwear or simply weren’t used to playing on the new turf. Jets players had no issues with the turf. Neither did the Giants or the Pittsburgh Steelers who faced each other at MetLife in Week 1.