Miami running back Raheem Mostert blasted the turf at MetLife Stadium, after teammate Jaelan Phillips went down with a non-contact Achilles injury during the third quarter of the Dolphins’s 34-13 win over the Jets on Black Friday.
After Aaron Rodgers went down in Week 1 of the season, many players have voiced displeasure with the safety of the field due to a rash of injuries sustained playing on the surface.
On the play in question, Phillips was trying to get around Max Mitchell in an attempt to rush quarterback Tim Boyle. However, Phillips dropped to the turf clutching at his ankle without being touched.
When asked by reporters after the game if he had an opinion on the MetLife playing surface, Mostert responded strongly.
“It’s tough, especially playing on this turf,” said Mostert. “No player wants to go down with a significant injury. I mean, you saw what happened to Rodgers on his very first game, on the first series, and it just sucks, man.”
After watching his teammate suffer the same fate as Rodgers, Mostert, who leads the NFL with 13 rushing touchdowns, stressed that something has to change with the turf.
“We have to do something about this turf and this playing surface, obviously it's still a major problem even with trying to figure out what we can do but it just has to change.”
Raheem Mostert: We’ve got to do something about this turf. Something has to change. pic.twitter.com/0w4vf5dFWW
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) November 24, 2023
Phillips, a third-year emerging talent who ranks second on the team with 6.5 sacks in just eight games this season, had collected 15.5 sacks over his first two seasons in the NFL.
