Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says he’s concerned about the safety of the playing surfaces in the NFL, and the league needs to do a deeper analysis of injuries on grass and artificial surfaces.
“I think we definitely need to look at this really seriously in the offseason again,” Carroll said. “It’s been a discussion before. We’ve got to do what’s right, and we’ve got to do what’s safest for the players and we’ve got to make those choices. I would pound on the drum for that.”
NFL Players Association President JC Tretter has called for the NFL to use grass fields exclusively, saying that studies have shown artificial surfaces cause more knee, foot and ankle injuries. Carroll didn’t go so far as to say that artificial turf should be banned, but he said that more studies are needed.
“I know that there’s numbers and there’s studies,” Carroll said. “You’ve got to figure out where the study comes from and who’s paying for it. There’s a lot of stuff here that we’ve got to figure out. We’ve got to do the right thing, but we definitely need to keep looking at it, because every now and then, it just feels like something is up, too many guys going down when they’re not even touching anybody. So anyway, we’ll see. The turfs are way better than they used to be and all that kind of stuff, but we’ve just got to see. I know I’m getting in trouble here, so I’ll shut up.”
During the Seahawks’ game at the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, both Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf and Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson suffered non-contact knee injuries. Metcalf fortunately appears to be OK, but Jackson is out for the season with a ruptured patellar tendon. The Chargers’ SoFi Stadium uses artificial turf, as does the Seahawks’ home field.