The Buffalo Bills had a rough trip to London in Week 5. Not only did they lose to the Jaguars 25-20, but they also lost multiple players to injury.
To make matters worse, the Bills also had to deal with a playing surface that they didn't think was safe. During a Thursday interview on "The Pat McAfee Show," Bills star Von Miller said the turf at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was one of the worst surfaces that he's ever played on.
"I really couldn't believe that we had high-class athletes playing on this stuff," Miller said. "It was insane."
So what was the problem with the turf?
"It just felt like it was hard and tight," Miller said. "It just felt stiff, like it didn't have any padding underneath. I've been playing in the league for 13 years and that was one of the worst surfaces I've played on."
The game in London marked Miller's first appearance of the season. The Bills star pass rusher tore his ACL last November and after missing the first four games of 2023, he was back on the field Sunday. With Miller returning from such a brutal injury, he was paying close attention to the turf, and clearly, he did NOT like what he saw.
Miller wasn't the only Bills player who was complaining about the turf conditions after the game.
Bills nickelback Taron Johnson, who actually went down with an injury at one point, said his injury only happened because of the turf.
"That turf is terrible," Johnson said, via The Athletic. "My foot got stuck in the ground, but I'm OK. Thank God. It was harder than usual, like it hasn't been used. I'm not saying that's an excuse (for losing), but I know that's why my foot got stuck in the ground."
Johnson wants to see the NFL replace the turf at the $1.3 billion stadium with grass.
"Take that turf out, especially that one," Johnson said. "I'd rather play on grass. I'm sure 90 to 100 percent of players in the NFL would rather play on grass. I don't know why we're playing on stuff like that. There were injuries on the field today, some really, really bad. I just feel like the turf has something to do with it."
It will be interesting to see if the NFL responds to these comments, because the league has a lot invested in the stadium, which was built with the NFL partially in mind. The stadium actually includes a retractable field that allows the the facility to quickly make the switch from a soccer pitch to a football field.
A video displaying how Tottenham Hotspur Stadium transforms from a natural to artificial surface for NFL games. Might just wanna stick with the grass next time pic.twitter.com/BgscnWt7jl
— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) October 8, 2023
Although the soccer field is grass, the football field is made of turf.
The NFL recently signed a deal with the facility in September that makes Tottenham Hotspur the official home of the NFL in the United Kingdom. Under terms of the deal, the NFL has agreed to play at least two games per year there through the 2029-30 NFL season.
The Titans and Ravens are scheduled to play at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday and it will now be worth monitoring to see if any players on those two teams have any complaints about the field. If the turf continues to be an issue, the NFL will have to give some serious thought to replacing it with something better.
