Jared Goff was hit and hit again in the Lions' loss to the Panthers on Saturday, slammed each time into the cold, hard turf. He would never complain about the perils of playing quarterback in the NFL.
But he was less than pleased with the artificial turf on a frigid day at Bank of America Stadium.
"I thought the field conditions were below NFL level standard," Goff said after Detroit's 37-23 loss. “Specifically pregame, I know it warmed up a little as the game went on. I don’t know what the deal is here, but they need to figure out a way to make the turf not feel like cement."
The temperature was 20 degrees at kickoff, marking the Panthers' coldest home game in the 26-year history of Bank of America Stadium. Goff, who was sacked twice and hit several other times, reiterated that the field "got better as the game went on, but pregame, it was in no condition to be played on."
"I’m happy guys came out of this one relatively injury free," he said.
Dan Campbell praised Goff for hanging tough in the face of heavy pressure from Carolina's defense, particularly late in the game. Despite the conditions, he managed to throw for 355 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
"His toughness really showed there at the end of the game," said Campbell. "Those were some legit hits, legit illegal hits, which is why they got flagged. It just shows his toughness. He made some big throws for us today. We could just never get into the rhythm that we needed to get into."
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