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For thirteen consecutive seasons, the Houston Texans' home field consisted of a complex system of trays that provided a natural grass playing surface. Throughout that time, there have been mixed opinions from coaches, players, fans, and others about whether or not several injuries were the result of uneven areas created by the seams between the trays.
NRG Stadium Playing Surface
NRG Stadium Playing Surface
Here is a recap some of the most high-profile non-contact injuries that "may" have been the result of that surface:
Wes Welker - Suffered an ACL injury when he hit a seam between two pallets.
Brian Cushing - Knee and hamstring injury when he hit a "floppy" corner.
Andre Johnson - Slipped in stride and pulled a hamstring in 2011; missed SEVEN games.
Brett Hartmann - Completely destroyed his ACL while running after a punt, ending his NFL career.
Jadeveon Clowney - Torn lateral meniscus in his first regular season NFL game.
The Texans elected to install an artificial turf for the bulk of the 2015 season, and now reports are coming out that they are in the market for a new artificial surface.
McNair said Texans r checking prices 4 new artificial surface. Don't want 2 use last year's cause it used 4 college and high school games 2.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) March 21, 2016
Texans had a lot of complaints from opposing players about their tray system. There were no complaints after they switched to AstroTurf.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) March 21, 2016
NRG Stadium will host the next Super Bowl, and obviously Houston is doing quite a bit to make improvements in anticipation of that big event.