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The New York Giants will face the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday at MetLife Stadium, a game the defending NFC champs are not looking forward to after having five key players go down with leg injuries in their game against the the Jets on Sunday.
Star defensive end Nick Bosa, quarterback Jimmy Garappolo, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas and running backs Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman were among the players to leave the game with leg injuries, leading head coach Kyle Shanahan to blame the turf at MetLife. Bosa has a torn ACL.
Niners players called the surface “spongey” and “sticky” and are urging the NFL to investigate the condition of the turf although the league said they recently reviewed it and found it to be in accordance with league standards.
“Guys seemed to be getting stuck in the ground more than regularly,” defensive lineman Arik Armstead said. “A bunch of our players went down. It wasn’t real fun to be a part of and see happen to your teammates.”
The Jets seemed to have no problems navigating the turf in their 31-13 blowout loss on Sunday. Perhaps the 49ers had the wrong foot apparel. The Giants played the Pittsburgh Steelers at MetLife last Monday night and there were no injuries to either team attributed to the turf.
“Our guys have been on that turf during camp, the stadium was kind of our home for that month or so,” Giants head coach Joe Judge told reporters on Monday. “We had our players on that turf every day for some sort of walkthrough, competitive practice, and then leading up to the game last week. Not a single player said anything negative to me at all, about any of our facilities, and specifically the turf.”
Giants wide receiver Golden Tate chimed in on the turf as well on Monday, even though he missed the season opener against Pittsburgh.
“I’ve been ok over the years I’ve played at MetLife,” said Tate. “I don’t have any problems with it. You can’t help but to think about where we are now two weeks into the NFL season and where we were three-four months ago, not having any OTAs, no time to be with the team. You can’t help but think that has something to do with it. But as far as MetLife’s field, I think it’s fine. But again, also personally, I haven’t played a game on it this year. But our guys last week did well, I thought.”
Safety Jabrill Peppers also said he found nothing untoward about the playing surface at MetLife.
“No, not that I can say. I think every field kind of presents its own kind of problems,” Peppers. “That’s why you go out there pregame, get a good feel for the turf. Is it a fast track? Do you need your studs or your molded cleats? Things like that. But on our part, we haven’t had any issues with it.”
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