Seahawks' Carroll wants grass for all NFL's fields

RENTON, Wash. -- Seattle Seahawks manager Pete Carroll and information Quandre Diggs connected Wednesday said they'd similar to spot a adjacent re-examination of whether NFL stadiums should exclusively usage earthy grass.

The ongoing speech astir the information of playing connected artificial turf versus earthy writer has been raised anew aft Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf and Los Angeles Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson suffered genu injuries during Sunday's crippled astatine SoFi Stadium, some connected non-contact plays.

SoFi Stadium uses an artificial surface.

"I deliberation we decidedly request to look astatine this truly earnestly successful the offseason again," Carroll said erstwhile asked astir the grass/turf debate. "It's been a treatment before. We've got to bash what's close and we've got to bash what's safest for the players and we've got to marque those choices. I would lb connected the drum for that."

Fourteen of the NFL's 30 stadiums usage an artificial surface, including the Seahawks' Lumen Field. In September of 2020, NFL Players Association president JC Tretter called for each teams to usage writer fields to trim the hazard of wounded to players. Tretter cited NFL wounded data from 2012 to 2018 that showed a 28% higher complaint of non-contact little extremity injuries connected artificial turf compared to grass.

"I cognize that there's numbers and there's studies," Carroll said. "You've got to fig retired who the survey comes from and who's paying for it. There's a batch of worldly present that we've got to fig out. We've got to bash the close thing, but we decidedly request to support looking astatine it due to the fact that each present and then, it conscionable feels similar thing is up, excessively galore guys going down erstwhile they're not adjacent touching anybody. So we'll see. The turfs are mode amended than they utilized to beryllium and each that benignant of stuff, but we've conscionable got to see."

Jackson volition miss the remainder of the play aft rupturing the patellar tendon successful his close genu Sunday. Metcalf suffered a overmuch little terrible wounded to his near patellar tendon that won't necessitate surgery. Carroll said Metcalf was feeling "a small better" Wednesday and was astatine the Seahawks' greeting walk-through but wouldn't instrumentality portion successful their day practice. Metcalf's presumption for Sunday's crippled against the New York Giants remains up successful the air.

Tretter's 2020 telephone for each teams to usage earthy writer came aft San Francisco 49ers manager Kyle Shanahan complained astir the artificial turf astatine MetLife Stadium, wherever backmost Jimmy Garoppolo and antiaircraft extremity Nick Bosa had precocious suffered season-ending genu injuries.

Diggs cited those injuries and the ones Sunday astatine SoFi portion expressing his dislike for artificial turf, which helium said is firmer and has little springiness than grass.

"So you spot that and you conscionable benignant of wonderment wherefore can't we person earthy writer everywhere," helium asked. "I emotion playing successful San Francisco and things similar that wherever it's writer and you conscionable spell retired determination and you conscionable spell play. Hopefully we're doing immoderate probe connected it and seeing what we tin bash to marque things better."

Diggs said writer is "so overmuch better" but acknowledged that players endure injuries connected writer arsenic well, including his dislocated ankle and breached fibula past play astatine the Arizona Cardinals' State Farm Stadium. Diggs said there's variance betwixt the turfs astatine antithetic stadiums, describing SoFi's arsenic slick and Lumen Field's arsenic "fine" but "a small much sticky than others." He said his ft got stuck successful the turf connected a missed tackle 2 weeks agone successful a location crippled against the Arizona Cardinals.

"I cognize it's hard to upkeep grass, but astatine the extremity of the day, we've got to bash what's champion for this billion-dollar manufacture and I deliberation the players are a large portion of that," Diggs said. "So possibly we tin instrumentality immoderate ideas from the players."