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Nabers injury revives concerns on MetLife field

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Nabers injury revives concerns on MetLife field


The major knee injury suffered by New York Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers has reignited discussions about the turf playing surface at MetLife Stadium.

One executive from an opposing team said this week that, due to the FieldTurf playing surface, his players are “petrified” of playing at MetLife. The executive added that if a player is nursing an injury, he might be less apt to play through it for a game at MetLife.

Others also are aware and concerned. NFL Players Association interim executive director David White was in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday for a scheduled visit with the Giants as part of his fall team meetings, and while he was there, he raised the issue of MetLife’s turf field and its ongoing history of season-ending lower extremity injuries.

Nabers suffered a season-ending torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee Sunday when he leaped for a Jaxson Dart pass. The wide receiver immediately reached for his right leg as he was in the air and landed hard on the ground.

MetLife Stadium, the home of the Giants and New York Jets, installed an updated version of FieldTurf, called the FieldTurf Core system, in 2023 that was hoped would decrease injuries. Last year, MetLife had one of the lowest injury rates in the league among fields using grass or turf, according to the NFL. Overall, there were fewer ACL injuries last year on synthetic turf than grass and there’s been no difference so far this year, the league said.

While at least 15 players have suffered knee ligament or Achilles tears at MetLife since 2020, the majority came before the new turf was installed in March 2023. Some of the more notable ones include Jaelan Phillips (Achilles, 2023), Aaron Rodgers (Achilles, 2023), Wan’Dale Robinson (ACL, 2022), Sterling Shepard (ACL, 2022), Jabrill Peppers (ACL, 2021) and Nick Bosa (ACL, 2020). Wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall also suffered significant ankle injuries at MetLife in 2017.

The Jets say their research shows that since 2023, grass fields have had more knee ligament or Achilles tears – with 38 injuries happening on grass field and 23 on turf, and since the turf update in 2023, 3 injuries have happened at MetLife. They say far more of these types of injuries happened in training camp than during the season. The NFL adds with both the Giants and Jets calling MetLife home, the stadium hosts twice as many games as venues with just one team.

MetLife ranked ninth-best when it comes to lower-extremity injuries, according to the NFL’s injury data from 2024. And for visiting players, who are typically more vulnerable on unfamiliar surfaces, MetLife actually graded out first, safest in the NFL.

Beckham posted to social media Sunday night asking for the NFL to “PLZ. PLZ. PLZ. GET RID OF THE [expletive emoji] TURF.”

In each of the past two years, more than 90% of players have said through the NFLPA’s annual survey that they prefer to play on grass instead of turf fields. One NFLPA official said via email this week that its office has heard from players who are “puzzled” by stadiums that are changing to grass for the Club World Cup and World Cup but sticking with turf for football.

Despite any outcry, the NFL has no plans to change out the latest playing surface at MetLife Stadium.

Nabers’ injury shined a spotlight on the turf issue again, but one NFLPA official said the topic was percolating even earlier, after Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury while playing on the FieldTurf at Paycor Stadium in Week 2. Burrow underwent surgery Sept. 19 and is expected to be out at least three months.

The Bengals were among the teams that switched to the FieldTurf Core system in 2024.





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Tigers 3-2 Mariners (Oct 4, 2025) Final Score – ESPN

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Tigers 3-2 Mariners (Oct 4, 2025) Final Score – ESPN



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Hegseth helps set world record at Navy football game for most people doing push-ups at the same time

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Hegseth helps set world record at Navy football game for most people doing push-ups at the same time


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U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had a record-breaking presence during Navy’s 34-31 win over Air Force Saturday in Annapolis, Maryland. 

Hegseth led a push-up brigade with cadets, officers and fans at the game that broke a Guiness World Record. Hegseth’s charge of 3,068 broke the record for most people doing push-ups simultaneously for one minute.

Navy not only beat Air Force’s football team, but it also took the push-up record from the Air Force Academy.

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The previous record was 2,926, achieved by the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on April 20, 2023, according to Guiness World Records.

Hegseth’s feat drew praise on social media. 

Hegseth was a big part of the festivities for Navy’s football team on Saturday. 

He also joined in on the postgame celebration and gave the players a boisterous locker room speech after their thrilling win. 

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Pete Hegseth led a record-breaking pushup charge at Navy’s football game on Saturday. (Department of War)

The victory gave Navy (5-0) a leg up in holding on to the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy, awarded to the winner of the round-robin between the Navy, Air Force and Army service academies. 

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Navy will look to clinch the trophy in the annual Army-Navy game Dec. 13. 

Earlier on Saturday, Hegseth fired the navy chief of staff Jon Harrison, who had been appointed in January. 

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Guardiola hails Foden’s honesty on mental health

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Guardiola hails Foden’s honesty on mental health


Pep Guardiola has praised Manchester City forward Phil Foden for being open about the mental health issues which troubled him last season.

Foden has been one of City’s stand-out players in the early part of this season’s campaign with two goals and two assists in seven appearances, although that was not enough to earn him a recall to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad on Friday.

As City prepare to return to one of his favourite hunting grounds — away to Brentford on Sunday — Foden’s spark is certainly back after a 2024-25 campaign in which he registered 13 goals and seven assists in 49 appearances, compared with 27 goals and 13 assists in 53 the season before.

In May, Foden said he had had “a lot of things going on off the pitch mentally” and added: “Sometimes there’s things in life bigger than football.”

Discussing his resurgence this week, Guardiola said: “How strong he is admitting it. A figure like Phil can be open-minded and speak to all of society. Today the young teenagers and even older people struggle with that, nobody is away from that, everyone can be that.

“To accept the reality, wow. That’s why when I see him now, and forget about the level he is performing, which is a top level, how he’s been, the joy in the training session, his laugh and his voice in the locker room, being back, it’s enough. It’s just what we want.

“The rest, we’ll help him to play as well as possible, with that quality, he’s been there. But be healthy. It’s a sport, win, lose, draw. What’s important is him as a human being, be healthy with the family, with himself, and do what you want to do.

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“That is what we wanted and I’m happy step by step he’s getting better. You see the games and he’s involved in many, many things.”

There is an even greater spotlight on Foden this season following the departure of Kevin De Bruyne in the summer. The 25-year-old’s relationship with Erling Haaland can be key for City, something which has already been on show this season.

City fans will hope to see that partnership continue for many years to come, even as reports continue to come from Spain that Barcelona president Joan Laporta has become “obsessed” by the idea of signing Haaland next summer, seemingly undeterred by the nine-and-a-half year deal he signed in January.

“Can you tell me one club that wouldn’t dream of Erling Haaland?” Guardiola said when asked about the links. “I understand Barcelona dream of Erling, and all the clubs in the world. If Erling would not be with us it would be a dream for Man City to have Erling.

“What is going to happen, honestly, I don’t know. I know he has a long contract here and I think he’s doing really well and scoring a lot of goals. I had the feeling the team helps him a lot and gives him a lot of actions where he is able to score a goal.

“I think Erling isn’t stupid enough to sign something he doesn’t want to accomplish, that is for sure. But football, who knows what is going to happen in the next time. Nobody knows.”



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