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After using the most players in the entire league back-to-back seasons due to an increased spate of injuries, the Tennessee Titans announced Tuesday they are installing a new playing surface for their home field.
Nissan Stadium is switching up from grass, which has been the surface since its opening in 1999, to a new synthetic turf.
The Titans used 91 players in 2021, the most ever in a non-strike season, and Nissan Stadium's playing surface has proved to be one of the most detrimental to players in recent years — from 2018 to 2021, the stadium had higher lower-body injuries than each of the monofilament synthetic turfs in the league.
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A general view of a Tennessee Titans helmet before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Nissan Stadium on September 25, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
A reason for this is due to Nashville being located in a transition climate zone, which makes it much more difficult to provide a consistent, durable grass surface, no matter how often they've replaced and re-sodded the surface.
"There is nothing more important than the health and safety of our players," head coach Mike Vrabel said. "We've had a lot of issues after a certain part of the season. It's hard to grow grass. It gets slick. We put new turf down, we try and put new sod down and it's slick, you see guys slipping. Those are real things that I've witnessed over my time here. Our grass surface is not on the level of some of the other grass surfaces (across the NFL). At the beginning of the year, summer, training camp, early season, I can see it being very consistent. But as the season wears on, and the weather changes, there is a noticeable difference in performance of the field."
A general view of the Tennessee Titans flags during the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on November 14, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
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The new turf is the same surface used in the team's practice facility, which the players have responded positively to.
"We added this product inside the bubble and … the response has been very positive, very favorable to that surface to the new technology that continues to come out," Vrabel said. "Just witnessing our practices inside and how they feel and how they respond on that product. … We're excited to be able to add this product to our stadium."
"I think our grounds crew is among the best in the National Football League," team CEO Burke Nihill said. "Ultimately there's just a limit to how much can be done for a natural grass surface in this part of the country. This turf is cutting-edge technology and will be a huge improvement in terms of consistency and performance."
General view as Ryan Tannehill #17 hands the ball to Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans during the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Nissan Stadium on Nov. 10, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeats Kansas City 35-32. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
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The Titans started off 7-3, but lost their final seven games to miss out on the playoffs, including their last against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who won the AFC South with the victory.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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