The grass in Houston isn't cutting it anymore, so the Texans are getting rid of it.
General manager Rick Smith announced on Friday that the the team will be making the switch from natural grass to artificial turf this week.
"The installation and the performance of the field in the two preseason games, particularly last week in the first regular-season game, was just not up to historical standards," Smith said. "Our players have always enjoyed playing on natural grass here, but it's our responsibility at the club level as well as the league level to protect them from risk."
The new surface is expected to be installed in time for the team's next home game on Sept. 27.
The decision to replace the grass comes less than one week after the Kansas City Chiefs complained about the turf conditions.
During the Texans home opener, the Chiefs weren't happy with the fact that there was a visible seam on the field.
The Chiefs aren't happy with the condition of the field here in Houston. This is one seam... http://t.co/y9Vr8y0VGr pic.twitter.com/Zh7LWVqAfj
— Adam Teicher (@adamteicher) September 13, 2015
Although Smith said that players like playing on the field, there's a belief in the NFL that the playing surface in Houston has been bad for years.
Last year, then-Texans safety D.J. Swearinger said that the horrible field conditions in Houston are what caused Jadeveon Clowney's knee injury.
"[Clowney] told me on the field when it happened, he was just like, 'Bro, I just jumped, came down and hit one of the holes on the field,'" Swearinger said last season.
The turf also got a negative review from Patriots coach Bill Belichick after Wes Welker tore his ACL in 2010.
"The turf down there is terrible," Belichick told WEEI in Boston in 2010. "It's terrible. It's just inconsistent. It's all the little trays of grass and some of them are soft and some of them are firm and they don't all fit well together, those seams ... some of it feels like a sponge, some of it feels real firm and hard like the Miami surface. One step you're on one, the other step you're on another. I really think it's one of the worst fields I've seen."
As long as the Texans don't botch the installation of the artificial surface, the team's turf woes should soon become a distant memory.
