Seahawks’ Pete Carroll calls for increased scrutiny of NFL playing surfaces amid injuries

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll joined the growing chorus of complaints about the injuries some players are suffering and whether they have to do something with the playing surfaces.

San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle and free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. have both spoken out about playing surfaces earlier in the season. Kittle’s teammate Emmanuel Moseley suffered a torn ACL against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, North Carolina. Beckham’s former New York Giants teammate, Sterling Shepard, tore his ACL at MetLife Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys.

“I think we definitely need to look at this really seriously in the offseason again,” the longtime Seahawks coach told reporters Wednesday, via Pro Football Talk. “It’s been a discussion before. We’ve got to do what’s right, and we’ve got to do what’s safest for the players, and we’ve got to make those choices. I would pound on the drum for that.”

Earlier this month, Kittle specifically called for continuity among NFL teams. He compared the surface to the NBA, saying “NBA guys don’t play on different wood, what are we doing? Hockey guys don’t play on different ices all the time. It’s ice.”

Carroll said the playing surfaces needed to be more closely examined.

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“I know that there’s numbers and there’s studies. You’ve got to figure out where the study comes from and who’s paying for it. There’s a lot of stuff here that we’ve got to figure out,” he added. 

“We’ve got to do the right thing, but we definitely need to keep looking at it, because every now and then, it just feels like something is up, too many guys going down when they’re not even touching anybody. So anyway, we’ll see. The turfs are way better than they used to be and all that kind of stuff, but we’ve just got to see. I know I’m getting in trouble here, so I’ll shut up.”

Carroll personally witnesses Los Angeles Chargers cornerback J. C. Jackson go down with non-contact knee injury at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, which cost him the season. Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf also suffered a knee injury, but it did not appear to be as serious as Jackson’s issue.