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Titans switching Nissan Stadium to turf field for 2023

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Given that $40.4 million of Derek Carr’s contract becomes guaranteed if the QB is on the team come February 15, Mike Florio and Myles Simmons map out how the Raiders are likely to play out this situation.

The Titans are looking to open their new Nashville stadium in 2026.

But before that happens, they’re making a significant change to their current home field.

Tennessee announced on Tuesday that the club is changing the playing surface at Nissan Stadium to turf for 2023.

In the Titans’ announcement, the team cited the fact that Nashville is in a transition climate zone and that Nissan Stadium had a higher rate of lower-extremity injuries as reasons for the change. The playing field will now be monofilament, Matrix Helix Turf with organic infill. The Titans say they’ll be the first NFL stadium to use synthetic turf with organic infill.

“Ultimately we’ve landed on the decision, based on that data, to transition to a monofilament surface with an organic infill that mimics the natural feel of grass while getting the consistency and durability of field turf,” Titans president and CEO Burke Nihill said, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s website.

“I think our grounds crew is among the best in the National Football League. … Ultimately there’s just a limit to how much can be done for a natural grass surface in this part of the country. This turf is cutting-edge technology and will be a huge improvement in terms of consistency and performance.”

After the team tried different grass surfaces, head coach Mike Vrabel said that he supports the changes. The playing field will now be the same as the indoor facility at the Titans headquarters.

“There is nothing more important than the health and safety of our players,” Vrabel said. “We’ve had a lot of issues [with the grass at Nissan Stadium] after a certain part of the season. It’s hard to grow grass. It gets slick. We put new turf down, we try and put new sod down and it’s slick, you see guys slipping. Those are real things that I’ve witnessed over my time here. Our grass surface is not on the level of some of the other grass surfaces [across the NFL]. At the beginning of the year, summer, training camp, early season, I can see it being very consistent. But as the season wears on, and the weather changes, there is a noticeable difference in performance of the field.

“We added this product inside the bubble and … the response has been very positive, very favorable to that surface to the new technology that continues to come out. Just witnessing our practices inside and how they feel and how they respond on that product. … We’re excited to be able to add this product to our stadium.”