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Packers RB Josh Jacobs blames MetLife Stadium turf for knee injury: 'Bit me in the ass'

Meby: Nick Geddes23 hours agoNickGeddesNews
Josh Jacobs
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs suffered a knee injury in this past Sunday’s win over the New York Giants. Jacobs said Thursday he hurt his knee on the second play of the game and blamed the playing surface at MetLife Stadium.

“Definitely the worst,” Jacobs said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “Always been the worst. I know if I ever play there again, I will never talk about it because I talked about it all week, how bad it was, and it bit me in the ass.”

Players and coaches have long complained about the artificial turf at MetLife. Since 2020 alone, at least 15 players have suffered knee ligament or Achilles tears at MetLife, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The majority of those came before MetLife installed the FieldTurf Core system in 2023. The New York Jets, who share the stadium with the Giants, said their research showed that grass fields have had more knee ligament or Achilles tears since 2023.

Earlier this month, San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive end Mykel Williams tore his ACL at MetLife against the Giants. 49ers tight end George Kittle blasted the playing surface after the game.

“No NFL field should be the butt of a joke. Ever. I feel like all fields should have a level of safety to it,” Kittle said. “I just don’t get why there’s not a standard for, ‘Hey, you gotta pick between one or two turfs.’

“There shouldn’t be 12 different turfs and 12 different grass fields. I just think that’s weird because most other sports, it’s not like basketball players play on different hardwood, soccer players in Europe all play on really nice grass. So, it’s just weird to me.”

Josh Jacobs avoided serious knee injury in Week 11

Fortunately for Jacobs, this isn’t a serious knee injury. He has not yet been ruled out for Sunday’s Week 12 home game against the Minnesota Vikings. Jacobs doesn’t expect to miss any additional time if he were to be sidelined for Sunday. The Detroit Lions host the Packers on Thanksgiving.

“Worst case if I don’t play this week, Thursday I’m definitely playing,” Jacobs said. “It’s not like something that’ll linger over past that. That’s really the worst-case scenario, yeah.”

Jacobs, a limited participant in Thursday’s practice, said the swelling in his knee has gone down considerably. If he can’t play Sunday, Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks will handle the backfield duties.

Jacobs has rushed for 648 yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games this season. In his second season with the Packers, Jacobs rushed for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024.