The major knee injury suffered by New York Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers has reignited discussions about the turf playing surface at MetLife Stadium.
One executive from an opposing team said this week that, due to the FieldTurf playing surface, his players are “petrified” of playing at MetLife. The executive added that if a player is nursing an injury, he might be less apt to play through it for a game at MetLife.
Others also are aware and concerned. NFL Players Association interim executive director David White was in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday for a scheduled visit with the Giants as part of his fall team meetings, and while he was there, he raised the issue of MetLife’s turf field and its ongoing history of season-ending lower extremity injuries.
Nabers suffered a season-ending torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee Sunday when he leaped for a Jaxson Dart pass. The wide receiver immediately reached for his right leg as he was in the air and landed hard on the ground.
MetLife Stadium, the home of the Giants and New York Jets, installed an updated version of FieldTurf, called the FieldTurf Core system, in 2023 that was hoped would decrease injuries. Last year, MetLife had one of the lowest injury rates in the league among fields using grass or turf, according to the NFL. Overall, there were fewer ACL injuries last year on synthetic turf than grass and there’s been no difference so far this year, the league said.
While at least 15 players have suffered knee ligament or Achilles tears at MetLife since 2020, the majority came before the new turf was installed in March 2023. Some of the more notable ones include Jaelan Phillips (Achilles, 2023), Aaron Rodgers (Achilles, 2023), Wan’Dale Robinson (ACL, 2022), Sterling Shepard (ACL, 2022), Jabrill Peppers (ACL, 2021) and Nick Bosa (ACL, 2020). Wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall also suffered significant ankle injuries at MetLife in 2017.
The Jets say their research shows that since 2023, grass fields have had more knee ligament or Achilles tears – with 38 injuries happening on grass field and 23 on turf, and since the turf update in 2023, 3 injuries have happened at MetLife. They say far more of these types of injuries happened in training camp than during the season. The NFL adds with both the Giants and Jets calling MetLife home, the stadium hosts twice as many games as venues with just one team.
MetLife ranked ninth-best when it comes to lower-extremity injuries, according to the NFL’s injury data from 2024. And for visiting players, who are typically more vulnerable on unfamiliar surfaces, MetLife actually graded out first, safest in the NFL.
Beckham posted to social media Sunday night asking for the NFL to “PLZ. PLZ. PLZ. GET RID OF THE [expletive emoji] TURF.”
Dear @NFL , I mean this with the upmost love and respect. We (The NFL) take all The precautions in the world with EVERYthing else when it comes to players “health” and “safety”. PLZ. PLZ. PLZ. GET RID OF THE 🤬 TURF. Thank You in advance. LUV
— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) September 29, 2025
In each of the past two years, more than 90% of players have said through the NFLPA’s annual survey that they prefer to play on grass instead of turf fields. One NFLPA official said via email this week that its office has heard from players who are “puzzled” by stadiums that are changing to grass for the Club World Cup and World Cup but sticking with turf for football.
Despite any outcry, the NFL has no plans to change out the latest playing surface at MetLife Stadium.
Nabers’ injury shined a spotlight on the turf issue again, but one NFLPA official said the topic was percolating even earlier, after Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury while playing on the FieldTurf at Paycor Stadium in Week 2. Burrow underwent surgery Sept. 19 and is expected to be out at least three months.
The Bengals were among the teams that switched to the FieldTurf Core system in 2024.
