The New York Jets may have beaten the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 22-16, but the game was marred by Aaron Rodgers suffering a torn Achilles that ended his season before it could even really start. We are only one week into the 2023 campaign, but it feels like there is a sense of despair surrounding the Jets right now as a result of Rodgers' crushing injury.
One issue with Rodgers' injury that has caught a lot of fans' attention is the fact that MetLife Stadium's turf field appeared to play a part in the injury. Many players have expressed their disdain for turf fields over the past few seasons, and Rodgers' injury isn't going to help matters. In fact, as a result of Rodgers' season-ending ailment, the NFLPA issued an official statement in support of a mandate that would have every stadium across the NFL use grass fields instead of turf.
Lloyd Howell, recently elected @NFLPA executive director, adds to the union’s continued push for natural grass fields via this statement. pic.twitter.com/uVuu8XOQqd
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 13, 2023
There are benefits to using turf fields, but there has been an increasing number of ACL and Achilles injuries that are occuring as a result of playing on these fields. Players' legs end up getting stuck in the turf momentarily, and the brief hitch in movement for these players sometimes ends up resulting in tears of their muscles in their legs, which is what happened with Aaron Rodgers here.
The NFL has shown a willingness to experiment with different types of grass, but they may be making the situation more complicated than it needs to be (cough, cough, Super Bowl 57). The movement to return to grass fields is gaining more steam than ever, and the NFL's hand may be forced sooner rather than later after another crushing injury to one of the best players in the game.
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