Robert Kraft’s stance on the Patriots’ field is once again leaving players with the same frustration: no permanent move to grass.
The topic has been hanging around all summer after the United States hosted the FIFA World Cup at several NFL stadiums, including Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. For those matches, the artificial turf came out and real grass went in, which put the grass-vs.-turf debate back in the spotlight. NFL players noticed, and many of them used the moment to push for a broader change across the league.
Patriots players joined that conversation, too, making it clear they prefer grass over turf. The hope, at least from their side, was that Kraft would take the hint and move the team in that direction for good. But the latest word out of Gillette Stadium suggests that’s not happening anytime soon.
Ahead of this week’s first preseason game against the Colts, the Patriots are now racing to fix a field the NFL has already labeled “noncompliant.” That means the entire surface has to be replaced before Thursday’s game in order to meet the league’s standards.
A full switch from turf to grass would have been a bigger offseason move, and probably too late to pull off now. Still, this latest field issue only reinforces Kraft’s reluctance to make the change, even with players stressing the performance and injury concerns that come with turf.
The timing of the World Cup offered a real opening. Grass was already down, the field had already been converted, and there was a chance to keep it that way. With players and the NFLPA making a loud case for the benefits of grass, this could have been the moment for an owner to set a new tone.
Instead, no team has carried that idea forward into the upcoming season.
So the Patriots are back where they started: scrambling to get the field ready, trying to satisfy the NFL’s requirements before kickoff against Indianapolis. And while field problems can sometimes force preseason games to be delayed or canceled, that’s the last thing the Patriots need after an offseason that already brought plenty of noise.
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