Maybe it’s a next-level plan to demonstrate the value of a domed stadium with artificial turf. Or maybe it’s just the latest chapter in the grass at Soldier Field periodically looking like it had been invaded by a battalion of Marines.
Regardless, early reports on the quality of the playing surface aren’t good in advance of the Monday night game between the Vikings and the Bears.
From Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com, from 4:42 p.m. ET: “Several members of the field crew at Soldier Field are surveying the turf right now and placing a sand/seed mix in areas that need to be filled on the playing surface. The field was re-sodded after a stretch of five concerts at the end of August.”
And here’s an earlier video from Chris Hawkey of ESPN.com, as re-posted by Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com.
The league has minimum standards for field quality. Of course, the financial impact and practical consequences of scrapping a game because it was a potential safety hazard for the players would be difficult to manage.
What would the Vikings and Bears do? Play tomorrow in Minnesota or at some other site?
Regardless, the field doesn’t look good. We’ll find out in a less that three hours how it plays.
The Bears have elevated linebacker Carl Jones Jr. and defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon from the practice squad for Monday Night Football, the team announced.
That seems like a good sign for the availability of cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson, Josh Blackwell and Kyler Gordon. Johnson (calf/groin), Blackwell (groin) and Gordon (hamstring) had questionable designations.
Jones played one game for the Bears last season, seeing action on 12 special teams snaps in a loss to the Patriots.
Kpassagnon signed with the Bears on July 22, and after being among the team’s final cuts, he re-signed to their practice squad. Kpassagnon has appeared in 104 career games, including three last season with the Saints.
Is Younghoe Koo’s time with the Falcons about up?
Koo connected on a career-low 73.5 percent of his field goals last season in 14 games. In Sunday’s loss to the Bucs, Koo then had one of his attempts go off an upright before it went through the posts. Then he badly missed a game-tying, 44-yard attempt wide right at the end of the game.
Head coach Raheem Morris told reporters in his Monday press conference that while Koo is the kicker right now, the team will bring in veterans and emerging players as competition at kicker.
“We’ve got to go out there and look,” Morris said, via Will McFadden of the team’s website. “We’ve got to bring in people to compete.”
Morris also noted that the team has to change its approach in certain situations because of Koo’s unreliability.
Koo, who did not speak to the media on Sunday in violation of the league’s access policy, told reporters on Monday how frustrated he was about the result.
“It’s tough, obviously,” Koo said, via Terrin Waack of the team’s website. “But as always, just got to get back to work. Definitely frustrated. Had a great offseason, great camp. Two weeks leading into Week 1, I felt great. I still do.”
So what happened?
“Throughout the game with that turf, I was kind of hitting the ground a little bit, so I tried to make an adjustment, which I have done multiple times, and I just made the wrong kind of adjustment at that time, and I know what to do,” Koo said, via Marc Raimondi of ESPN. “But it’s just frustrating. I know better than that, and I just got to do a better job.”
We’ll see if it’s Koo or another kicker on the field in Week 2 when the Falcons play the Vikings on Sunday Night Football.
The Falcons lost wide receiver Drake London to a shoulder injury on the way to losing their opener to the Buccaneers, but it doesn’t sound like London should be out for an extended period of time.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that London suffered a shoulder sprain. He is considered day-to-day right now, but will have more tests to confirm the initial diagnosis.
The Falcons were already missing Darnell Mooney due to a shoulder injury of his own, so they were thin at wideout for much of Sunday’s game. Getting both back for Week 2’s Sunday night game against the Vikings would be a plus to their bid to avoid an 0-2 start.
London had eight catches for 55 yards before his injury.
The Vikings listed safety Harrison Smith as doubtful to play on Monday night when they handed in their injury report on Saturday and they removed any doubt about his status on Sunday.
Smith did not travel with the team to Chicago and he has been ruled out of the matchup with the Bears. Smith is listed with an illness and he had been out of practice for a stretch before returning to the field this week.
Josh Metellus, Theo Jackson, Jay Ward, and Tavierre Thomas are the other safeties for the Vikings.
Left tackle Christian Darrisaw (knee) is still listed as questionable while running back Zavier Scott (ankle) and defensive lineman Elijah Williams (hamstring) were ruled out on Saturday.
