Aaron Jones Sr. isn’t eager to pick a side in the NFL’s long-running grass-versus-turf argument.
“You’re asking the wrong person,” the Vikings running back said with a grin after the first day of training camp. “Just give me a surface to play on, and I’m gonna play.”
That said, Jones knows why so many players lean toward turf - and why just as many bristle at it. For speed players and cutters like him, turf can offer a little more comfort. But the bigger conversation around injury risk never really goes away, and it flared back up again when the 2026 World Cup came through North America this summer.
Seven NFL stadiums replaced artificial turf with natural grass for World Cup matches, then are expected to go back to turf before the 2026 season. That temporary switch caught the attention of plenty of NFL players, who saw proof that the change can be made when the right event demands it.
The Vikings will spend plenty of time on that same issue this season. Of their 17 regular-season games, 13 are set for artificial turf, including all nine at U.S.
Bank Stadium. That total is tied for the third-most in the NFL, according to data compiled by The Athletic.
Minnesota will also play at two of the World Cup venues that went natural for the summer. The first stop comes Saturday, when the Vikings face New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium in their preseason opener. They’ll return there in Week 17, and they also travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., in Week 14.
Linebacker Blake Cashman said the World Cup setup only sharpened the frustration for players who believe the league could do more.
“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,” Cashman told the Minnesota Star Tribune during training camp. “This is our job. It’s our livelihood, and it’s our passion.”
The debate was especially visible at MetLife Stadium, home of the Giants and Jets in East Rutherford, N.J., which hosted the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. During that game, numerous NFL players posted on X with the hashtag “WorthTheCost,” making their stance plain while the world watched a grass field where an NFL surface usually sits.
And even with that moment of visibility, the practical obstacle remains the same: the expense of keeping a natural grass field inside a stadium is still one of the main reasons many teams have stayed with turf.
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