Vikings players renew turf safety concerns: World Cup showed NFL stadiums can switch to grass

The Vikings will play 13 of 17 games on artificial turf this season, including three at stadiums that installed grass for the World Cup before switching back.

Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. doesn’t have a strong opinion on the NFL’s grass versus turf debate.

“You’re asking the wrong person,” Jones said with a smile after the first day of training camp. “Just give me a surface to play on, and I’m gonna play.”

As a skill-position player whose speed and ability to cut quickly are paramount, Jones said turf provides a bit more peace of mind than grass.

But Jones understands the gripes some of his teammates — and many NFL players — have with turf fields, including concerns about an increased risk of injury. Those concerns resurfaced when the 2026 World Cup was held in North America this summer. Seven NFL stadiums swapped artificial turf for natural grass to host World Cup matches, but will switch back before the 2026 season.

The Vikings are set to play three games at two of those World Cup venues. They will visit New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium for their first preseason game Saturday and again in Week 17, and travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., in Week 14.

Of the Vikings’ 17 regular-season games this season, 13 will be played on artificial turf, including their nine home games at U.S. Bank Stadium. That’s tied for the third-most in the NFL, according to data compiled by the Athletic.

“When they come in and they take out the turf that’s in our NFL stadiums and they put this nice grass in [for the World Cup], NFL players feel a little bit insulted or maybe disrespected and would like to see that changed because every player in this league wants to stay healthy and have longevity and play for as long as they can,” linebacker Blake Cashman told the Minnesota Star Tribune during training camp. “This is our job. It’s our livelihood, and it’s our passion.”

Why Christian Darrisaw and Minnesota Vikings players prefer natural grass

MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and Jets in East Rutherford, N.J., played host the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. Numerous NFL players took to X during the game to share their feelings about the grass-vs.-turf debate with the hashtag, “WorthTheCost.” The cost of maintaining an in-stadium grass field is often cited as one reason some teams have stuck with turf.

“I do see where the players are coming from in terms of, ‘They can do it for FIFA. Why can’t they do it for us?’” Jones said. “Some of these guys have been advocating for it for a long time. I know MetLife is one of the notorious ones where guys go up and things happen to them.”

The Vikings have split the difference. Their outdoor practice fields are grass, but their indoor practice facility, TCO Stadium and U.S. Bank Stadium have turf.

Ninety-two percent of NFL players prefer playing on natural grass, according to a survey conducted by the NFL Players Association.

In a statement shared in June alongside the survey results, the NFLPA wrote the World Cup proved, “It’s no longer a question of capability; the technology exists and the resources exist to install the high-level grass fields that our players overwhelmingly prefer.”

Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw is among those who prefer grass.

Darrisaw tore both the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee during a game on the artificial turf at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in October 2024.

“[Grass is] better for the bodies,” Darrisaw said. “Science says that. We know that the stadiums are able to have the grass in the stadiums. Why can’t we have the best playing surface?”

A letter penned by NFLPA President J.C. Tretter supports Darrisaw’s claim. Tretter said, citing NFL injury data collected from 2012 to 2018, “players have a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries when playing on artificial turf.”

The NFL, for its part, said in December it has no plans to require teams to have grass fields. Its chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, said there are no “statistically significant differences” in lower extremity injuries or concussions that can be attributed to different types of playing surfaces.

“The surface is only one driver of these lower extremity injuries,” Sills told NFL.com. “There are a lot of other factors, including player load and previous history and fatigue and positional adaptability and cleats that are worn.”

How turf vs. grass affects Vikings kicker Will Reichard

The differences between playing on turf and grass go beyond the potential for injuries. For kickers, the playing surface can affect how they’re able to impact the ball.

“The surface definitely changes the dynamic of foot placement, how the ball strike actually does take place,” special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said. “Obviously, you prefer to play on grass, but it definitely affects the footing, how you strike the football, how the football comes off the foot from a turf versus grass standpoint.”

Kicker Will Reichard told the Star Tribune he grew up mostly kicking on grass, which makes it easier for him to adjust on the rarer occasions the team plays on grass surfaces.

He practices more on turf in the team’s indoor practice facility and at TCO Stadium — the two fields feature different types of turf, he said — because the team plays on turf more often and because it’s not as forgiving or familiar as grass.

“The turf that we have in our indoor is the same turf that we have in our stadium, so I’m trying to get as many reps on that as possible,” Reichard said. “But game week, if we’re playing in Green Bay, I’ll be out here on the grass every day I’m kicking that week.”

Why NFL players continue to push for grass over artificial turf

No two playing surfaces across the NFL — turf or grass — are 100% equal.

MetLife Stadium has become infamous more through anecdotes than hard evidence for the quality of its turf, with high-profile stars like Odell Beckham Jr. and Nick Bosa among those to suffer serious injuries there.

Cashman started his career with the Jets and said he suffered “a lot of injuries” on the field’s turf during his three seasons with the team. He described the surface as being extra perilous when wet, with bubbly pockets of water and spots more slick than others.

But the turf inside U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings’ home venue, is OK, Darrisaw said.

That turf was last upgraded in early 2024 after the previous version in the venue was shown to have a higher rate of non-contact leg injuries. Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson missed a chunk of the 2023 season because of a hamstring injury suffered in an October home game.

Outdoor venues with grass, like Soldier Field and Lambeau Field, where the Vikings play the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers annually, present their own challenges due to wear and weather.

Still, the NFLPA’s survey results show a clear player preference. That won’t be much help for the Vikings as they prepare for a season that will be spent almost entirely on turf.

Retired fullback C.J. Ham told the Star Tribune he liked playing on grass more the later he got in his career. The way it felt on his body the day after a game outweighed any potential speed advantage of playing on turf — a different perspective from what Jones offered.

“They say you don’t move as fast on grass, but everybody doesn’t move as fast on grass,” Ham said. “It’s still a level playing field. If you’re fast, you’re fast and if you’re slow, you’re slow. It doesn’t really matter.”

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