A win was nice for the Broncos on Thursday night, but losing any offensive weapons in the process was something Denver was desperately trying to avoid. As the 2020 season has proven so far, however, that's not so easy when playing at MetLife Stadium.
The Broncos, who entered Thursday night without Drew Lock, Courtland Sutton and Phillip Lindsay already, saw two more important offensive weapons go down over the course of their contest against the Jets. Rookie receiver KJ Hamler exited from the game in the first half, which obviously was an unpleasant sight to see. But the loss of Noah Fant, the second-year tight end who was on pace for a 1,000-yard season after three games this season, hurts even more. He tweaked his ankle in the third quarter after making his fifth catch of the contest and was carted off the field.
Luckily, neither injury appears to be too serious on the surface. But the bigger problem here is that the turf at MetLife Stadium didn't do itself any favors by claiming more NFL players as potential "victims" when it was already under scrutiny after the opening weeks of the 2020 season.
“As far as the feeling that was on the sidelines, I know that’s as many knee injuries and ankle stuff of people getting caught on the turf as I have ever been a part of,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the 49ers lost several players to injury. “From what I saw, the other team did, too. I know our players talked about it the entire game, just how sticky the turf was. It was something our guys were concerned about right away. And the results definitely made that stronger."
And though it was the Broncos who fell victim to the injury bug in Week 4, it was another 49er who made a strong call for action during the contest.
Though the turf has passed numerous tests from the NFL, with reviews confirming that the field meets the necessary standards for an appropriate playing surface, the pure amount of player complaints seems to indicate that something is definitely up.
Mostert's latest plea echoes a sentiment that is largely shared among NFL players and has turned into an official demand from the NFLPA.
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