On Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, Jabrill Peppers will return to the turf where his career was derailed.
The surface in the Meadowlands has claimed a number of victims, and Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles tear last year brought it into the national spotlight. But two seasons before Rodgers went down at MetLife, Peppers suffered his own ACL tear on the turf.
“I don’t like it,” Peppers told MassLive.
Peppers returned punts for the New York Giants in 2021. After fielding a kick in a game against Carolina, he broke up field and was grabbed by a Panthers tackler. Peppers’ right foot stuck in the turf as he was spun around and his ACL ruptured. Now a captain with the Patriots, Peppers has been back to MetLife already and the turf was in the back of his mind, but the one saving grace was that it was a contact injury.
“If it was a non-contact injury, I would have been thinking about it a little more. But I just don’t like that turf,” Peppers said.
The safety then pointed to the 2026 World Cup. MetLife Stadium will host eight matches in the tournament, including the World Cup Final, and a natural grass surface will be installed by NFL owners to accommodate those athletes.
“Soccer players are much smaller than us and the World Cup is going to be there. They’re digging the turf up. So that should tell you all you need to know,” Peppers said. “They are much lighter than us. They are not generating as much force in the ground. And they’re still not going to do it. So that should tell you everything you need to know. I don’t understand — well I understand. I know why. Owners want to have concerts and other things at their facility. I’m not mad at them, but you know.”
The type of turf at MetLife was altered prior to the 2023 season, but players like Garrett Wilson still called it “garbage” and it was the site of Rodgers’ Achilles tear. While half of the stadiums in the league are turf, it’s noteworthy that every single team in the league practices on natural grass. Peppers feels good in his eighth season, but there is a question that lingers in his mind.
“I’m actually mad I practiced on so much turf in high school and college. I think, what if I was on grass?” Peppers said. “How would my joints, knees (feel?) How much extra life would I have? How many more years would that put on me?”
