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How long will it take for Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles tendon to recover?
Former NFL team doctor David Chao appears on “The Pat McAfee Show” to discuss Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles recovery timeline.
The new executive director of the NFL Players Association has called on the league to change all field surfaces to natural grass. Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending injury.
Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles tendon Monday night in the Jets’ fourth game of the season, ruining the superstar quarterback’s New York debut and reigniting a league-wide debate over the playing surfaces of NFL stadiums.
MetLife Stadium, home of the Jets and Giants, installed a new surface called FieldTurf earlier this year that has a softer, more forgiving feel than the stadium’s previous artificial turf.
But Rodgers’ injury sparked widespread protests against turf surfaces, a sentiment echoed by NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell in a statement released Wednesday morning.
“Moving all stadium fields to high-quality natural grass surfaces is the simplest decision the NFL can make,” Howell said. “Players overwhelmingly prefer grass, and the data clearly shows that grass is simply safer than artificial turf. This was near the top of the players’ list during my visit to the team. That’s an issue, and an issue that I’ve raised with the NFL.”
Rodgers was injured while attempting to spin away from Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd. The four-time league MVP’s left foot hit the turf and his Achilles tendon ruptured. Slow-motion replays showed his left calf — the same calf he strained during organized team activities — reverberating as he entered the sack.
Jets coach Robert Saleh told reporters he doesn’t think the surface of the play was the cause of Rodgers’ injury. “If it’s a non-contact injury, I think that’s definitely something to discuss,” he said. Ta.
“That was a little forced. [injury]” Saleh said on Tuesday. “I think it was caused by trauma. We know the players like grass and there’s a lot of investment in these young players.”
Earlier this year, the NFLPA released data concluding that non-contact injury rates were higher on synthetic turf compared to turf during the 2022 regular season. But the NFL’s recent incidence of non-contact injuries to knees, ankles and feet has been about the same on natural and artificial playing surfaces, according to internal league data reviewed by ESPN in November. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said at the time that the NFL had no plans to convert all playing surfaces to grass, saying, “League statistics show that the type of surface we have as opposed to natural grass… I don’t see any problems.”
While Howell said Wednesday that the association approves of the “investment” needed to convert all stadiums to grass, he questioned why NFL team owners would make such a change for the 2026 World Cup. They also questioned whether it was planned for the sake of their players.
“We know it will take investment to make this change, but if we continue to lose good players to unnecessary injuries, it will be more costly for everyone in the business,” Howell said. . “It makes no sense for stadiums to switch to better grass surfaces as the World Cup approaches or when soccer clubs visit in the summer for exhibition games, but even a poor artificial surface is acceptable for their own players. It’s worth the investment and it just needs to change now.”
Howell replaced DeMaurice Smith in June, when the association’s Player Representatives Committee selected him as the fourth executive director in NFLPA history.
When asked about MetLife’s new surfaces in August, Rogers said he preferred grass, but also emphasized that he liked FieldTurf, calling it “the best of all the artificial surf surfaces I’ve seen.” “One of the best surfs I’ve ever seen.”
However, after Rodgers’ injury, multiple players harshly criticized the artificial surface, including former Packers teammate and close friend David Bakhtiari.
“Congratulations, NFL,” Bakhtiari said on social media platform X on Monday. “How many more players have to get injured on artificial turf??! You care more about football players than us. You’re going to remove all the astroturf for the World Cup.” It’s almost here. It’s clearly possible. I’m tired of it. Try harder!”
Eagles cornerback Darius Slay also took part in the weigh-in on Tuesday, tearing into the quality of MetLife Stadium’s surface.
“MetLife, we all know about that damn stadium,” Slay said. “They need to get real grass. It’s garbage. It’s sad when someone falls down because we’re playing this dangerous game, dude. Everyone calls us superheroes.” I think so, but it’s actually not.”
ESPN’s Rich Cimini contributed to this report.
