Patriots Captain Rips Jets’ Shoddy Home Field Over Safety Issue

The destruction the MetLife Stadium turf did to Jabrill Peppers’ career is in the back of the New England Patriots captain’s mind this week.

Peppers tore his ACL in 2021 at the venue as a member of the New York Giants and isn’t a fan of the playing surface that helped cause plenty of injuries over the years, including a season-ending Achilles tear to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers just minutes into his 2023 season.

Many NFL players have been critical of the suspect turf and Peppers continued to be ahead of the Patriots’ Thursday night matchup with the Jets.

“If it was a non-contact injury, I would have been thinking about it a little more,” Peppers told MassLive’s Chris Mason on Wednesday. “But I just don’t like that turf.”

Peppers sustained the severe injury when his foot got stuck in the turf and he got spun around by a tackler after fielding a punt.

A new synthetic turf was laid down at the stadium prior to last season, but that didn’t stop the criticism from players. MetLife Stadium turf will get a major overhaul prior to the 2026 World Cup with a natural grass surface, which is required for the tournament, being installed. Gillette Stadium will undergo the same process since it will also host World Cup games.

The fact that change will be made for the World Cup and not for NFL games isn’t lost on Peppers.

“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.”

This isn’t Peppers’ first game back at MetLife since the injury. He has played there twice since joining the Patriots in 2022 and turned in strong performances.

But he knows just how quickly things can change on that shoddy playing surface due to past experience.