The New York Jets — and New York Giants, too — will be playing on a new field surface in 2023. But it will not be a grass surface as many players are wanting nowadays.
MetLife Stadium told ESPN’s Jordan Raanan they will be contemplating new synthetic surfaces to replace the current FieldTurf being used now and the surface that many players want to be replaced across the league due to growing injury concerns.
“We evaluate our field each season and historically have replaced our playing surface every 3-4 years. We have made the decision to replace the field in 2023 and are currently reviewing proposals from multiple vendors for a new synthetic surface,” MetLife Stadium said in a statement to ESPN.
The change was also mentioned earlier this week by Giants safety Julian Love, who is the team’s union representative for the NFL Players Association.
“The Giants and MetLife are in the process of getting things done for next year,” Love told NJ Advance Media. “That turf will be changed. The stats have shown that we are on one of the worst fields in the league.”
This is on the heels of NFLPA president JC Tretter advocating owners for a change to playing surfaces, namely banning Slit FieldTurf, which seven teams — of which the Jets and Giants are two of — currently play on. The other teams are the Lions, Vikings, Saints, Colts and Bengals.
Tretter also mentioned the playing surface at Tottenham Stadium where the Giants and Packers played a few weeks ago and the “giant uneven seam above the numbers.”
There are nine teams — Patriots, Falcons, Bills, Panthers, Cowboys, Texans, Seahawks, Rams and Chargers — that also play on artificial surfaces, but those surfaces are seen as acceptable.