Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill called for the NFL to have grass for all of its fields as opposed to turf following the Achilles injury to New York Jets star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers ruptured his Achilles just a few plays into New York’s win on Monday Night Football over the Buffalo Bills in Week 1.
Hill wished for a speedy recovery for the former MVP, and he praised Jets quarterback Zach Wilson in the process. Wilson was able to throw a touchdown to Garrett Wilson late in the game to tie things up, and the Jets eventually won in overtime.
ALL. GRASS. FIELDS. 🚨⚠️ @cheetah on Aaron Rodgers injury, grass vs. turf debate… #ITNEEDEDTOBESAID FT. @cheetah@AttyJu
‼️ LINK IN BIO TO WATCH & LISTEN
🐆🐆🐆#TyreekHill #NFL #aaronrodgers #buffalobills #MiamiDolphins pic.twitter.com/nkBZ3xpcDa
— It Needed To Be Said (@cheetah_podcast) September 14, 2023
“I’m really praying for a speedy recovery for Aaron Rodgers, man,” Hill said. “And obviously a lot of people are going to say that the Jets take a step back – take a lot of steps back – but I think Zach Wilson, man, him being in that system, him being able to learn from Aaron Rodgers, in the time that he had to learn from him, he’s going to get better.”
Hill also discussed the issue of some NFL fields having turf instead of grass. MetLife Stadium, the Jets’ home field and where Rodgers was injured, has turf, which Hill revealed is much harder on the players.
It’s possible that is one of the reasons why Rodgers was injured, although that can’t be known for sure.
“It’s also a issue of us as NFL players playing on grass and turf too though because MetLife is turf,” Hill said. “We played in turf when we was in L.A. [New England] Patriots got turf I believe. Playing on that turf is always a risk, man. It’s always a risk of injury. And it’s crazy. As fast as we may run on turf, we’d rather play on grass because turf, it hurts our knees when we break down. It hurts our legs after the games. And grass is so much easier and smooth, smoother to cut on. It’s almost like playing in high school. It takes you back to your Friday night lights, man. So, NFL we want all grass fields.”
It’s likely that Hill’s plea for grass fields will be echoed by other players in the NFL.
Every season, it’s terrible to see players go down with season-ending injuries, so if there is away to prevent them – or at least lower the possibility of them happening – it should be something that the NFL looks into.
As Hill mentioned, the Dolphins opened their season with a game on turf at SoFi Stadium against the Los Angeles Chargers.
It has to be hard for players to switch back and forth between different types of playing surfaces throughout a season, and if the turf is putting players in pain, then it would make a lot more sense to have grass fields, even though they might be harder to maintain.
It will be interesting to see if the NFL makes the changes that Hill wants to see.
