Another week, another major injury on the MetLife field turf. This time, it was Miami Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips, who like Aaron Rodgers, tore his Achilles.

Phillips was having a great season for a Dolphins defense that was coming into its own and starting to play really well, lately.

The turf has been under fire since 2020, when it was installed, and a new turf was even installed this past offseason, but the results have been the same: pain. 

It's gotten to the point where The Sporting News decided to publish a list of notable injuries that took place on the MetLife turf since 2020.

Nick Bosa (ACL tear), Solomon Thomas (ACL tear), Jimmy Garoppolo (ankle sprain), Raheem Mostert (MCL tear), Sterling Shepard (Achilles tear and ACL tear), Wan'Dale Robinson (ACL tear), Blake Martinez (Achilles tear), Shane Lemieux (patellar tendon tear), Jabrill Peppers (ACL tear), Kyle Fuller (ACL tear), Aaron Rodgers (Achilles tear), Al Woods (Achilles tear) and now Jaelan Phillips (Achilles tear). They go on to point out that it is a partial list.  

While not all these injuries can be blamed solely on the turf, there is a troubling correlation of injuries that occur on the MetLife field than anywhere else and players are becoming more vocal about voicing their displeasure with the turf.

Speaking to the God Bless Footabll podcast on Meadowlark Media, Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert spoke about how relieved he was when the game was over at MetLife and he was able to escape it uninjured. “I'm glad I was able to survive it. That turf monster is crazy out there,” Mostert said.

“I think the turf just does too much. It doesn't give. You don't have any leeway when you're going and trying to play football. Like grass at least breaks into pieces, where turf is just all one chunk that just sticks together. They say the pellets are supposed to do certain things, but in reality those things just get caught in your mouth. That's about it.”

Mostert’s teammate Jevon Holland, who returned the “Hell Mary” for a Dolphins touchdown on Black Friday, also appeared on the podcast and didn’t hold back on his displeasure with the turf. “You almost can't get your footing. The field is trash. I don't like the field,” Holland said.

“I think it's trash and I think that it needs to change. You can't really feel stable in the ground in that field and a lot of injuries have occurred, especially this year from that specific MetLife Field, so it definitely needs to change.”

A lot of players are quick to point out that whenever they know they have to play on turf, their entire routine will change, including what equipment they use. Austin Ekeler appeared on the God Bless Football podcast as well and spoke about the differences between playing on turf versus grass. “Grass definitely is softer when I land, absolutely. Like getting tackled on the turf and getting tackled on the grass, is 100% different,” Ekeler said.

“If I play on turf, even our own field (Sofi Stadium), I got tape all over my arms like everywhere all my body. Grass, it's soft, like it has some cushion in it because it's on dirt instead of concrete. So that's my issue with turf is just, you know, being a runner or getting tackled onto a concrete surface instead of a dirt surface.”

It's been pointed out that the field at MetLife stadium will need to be converted to a natural grass prior to hosting any of the World Cup games in 2026, but as the injuries continue to pile up, it may be time for Jets owner Woody Johnson and Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch to bite the bullet and have it done before next season.

The thought of getting injured because of a wrong step on a professional field shouldn’t be on the athlete’s minds, but according to Mostert, it’s a thought that is never too far away. “When you see injuries go down, you're like, 'Oh, wait a second, I need to take a back seat. This is this is kind of nerve-racking, you know, to continue to keep playing on these types of surfaces.' It's not welcoming,” he told God Bless Football.

“To see one of your brothers go down, it's tough. I mean, especially with JP like he'd been balling. So, for him to go out and especially like that, at the start of a play, like non-contact. I mean, obviously, like I said, there's there's plenty of science behind you know, turf and non-contact injuries that are very severe.”

Some owners will tell you they don’t see a big enough difference in the number of injuries that occur on natural grass versus those that occur on artificial field turf.

Statistical data supports the idea that artificial grass is more harmful. According to NFL data, 7 of the 10 stadiums with the highest number of injuries between the 2017 and 2022 seasons used this synthetic surface. But this data does not only apply to professional sports. According to a study conducted by Washington University (St Louis), it was observed that college athletes were 58% more likely to suffer injuries on artificial turf.

At some point the owners need to listen to the players who actually put their bodies on the line. It's time to get it changed.

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