Getty Linebacker De'Vondre Campbell on the field for the Packers in 2021.
The Green Bay Packers were already a walking wounded team coming in to play the Detroit Lions in Week 9, and the carnage only got worse for them as the game played out.
From the opening kick, Packers players started to drop left and right, and one of their players thinks he knows the reason why this was the case. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell went straight to blaming the venue and more specifically, field turf in general after the contest was over.
Campbell’s tweet came after a barrage of injuries happened during the game, and a common thread was cited by him as it relates to the why as he called on the league to act in the future.
This is two weeks in a row we’ve had players get injured on turf fields. I think it’s time y’all take some of the money y’all make off us and invest in grass fields for every team around the league. The turf is literally like concrete it has no give when you plant @NFL
“This is two weeks in a row we’ve had players get injured on turf fields. I think it’s time y’all take some of the money y’all make off us and invest in grass fields for every team around the league. The turf is literally like concrete it has no give when you plant NFL,” Campbell tweeted.
The Packers sustained plenty of key injuries during the game, including linebacker Rashan Gary, who has been said to have suffered a torn ACL. Other Packer players who left during the game included wideout Romeo Doubs, running back Aaron Jones and cornerback Eric Stokes. It was a costly game for Green Bay in terms of the injuries.
For years, it’s been said that turf increases the odds of injury for players, and puts their bodies in bad position. Campbell, who was already dealing with a knee injury, clearly thinks that to be the case after watching his teammates suffer in the Motor City.
NFLPA President Called on Natural Grass Change
The thought that artificial surfaces need to go is a common idea around the league with players, and NFLPA President JC Tretter recently penned a piece on why he sees that as the case.
As Tretter wrote at NFLPA.com, the NFLPA has advocated for the removal of all artificial surfaces across the league. In terms of the reason why, data shows that injuries including non-contact injuries are a lot less common for natural grass, and player upkeep is much easier.
“The data supports the anecdotes you’ll hear from me and other players: artificial turf is significantly harder on the body than grass. Based on NFL injury data collected from 2012 to 2018, not only was the contact injury rate for lower extremities higher during practices and games held on artificial turf, NFL players consistently experienced a much higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries on turf compared to natural surfaces. Specifically, players have a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries when playing on artificial turf. Of those non-contact injuries, players have a 32% higher rate of non-contact knee injuries on turf and a staggering 69% higher rate of non-contact foot/ankle injuries on turf compared to grass,” Tretter said in the piece.
Whether the league goes with this or not in the future remains to be seen, but it’s obvious that this conversation is one that will be coming to the forefront in the years ahead.
Lions Deal With Many Injures; Ford Field to Blame?
Perhaps Campbell is on to something in the sense that Detroit’s own home field could be the reason for the team having lots of injuries on their own roster.
Detroit’s franchise has long felt cursed as it relates to injuries, and the same is proving true for the 2022 season. This year, the Lions have had a laundry list of big ailments, and while few have been season ending or perhaps directly related to the team’s turf, it’s an interesting thought to consider.
Cracking the code of Detroit’s injury struggles has been hard to do through the years. Many have long assumed that the team’s support staff, strength trainers or doctors could be to blame, but it’s possible the problem could be due to the surface the team prefers in Ford Field.