MetLife Stadium playing surface under the microscope again following Malik Nabers' knee injury

MetLife Stadium's playing surface may have claimed another NFL star. 

On Sunday, New York Giants phenom Malik Nabers was carted off the field with an apparent knee injury during the second quarter of their game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The second-year wideout was injured running a deep route down the right sideline and stepped awkwardly on his right leg, with his knee buckling while trying to haul in the pass from Jaxson Dart. Nabers was down on the field in noticeable pain before being carted off. 

Of course, this would be a monumental blow to the Giants if Nabers' injury is as severe as it looked on the field. It also brings the playing surface of MetLife Stadium back under the microscope. In years past, the playing surface installed at the stadium had been under intense scrutiny because so many players suffered severe injury while playing on it, so much so that they installed a new turf for the 2023 season following a rash of injuries on the prior surface. 

The new form of FieldTurf -- called FieldTurf Core system -- was tested in over 200,000 cycles on the fiber wear test by Penn State's Center for Sports Surface Research, according to the original report from ESPN. 

At the time, Giants owner John Mara also confirmed this surface was also installed at the team's practice facility, but hoped to move to a grass or a hybrid surface in the future. While this surface was installed just two years ago, the stadium intends to convert to natural grass for the World Cup next year, according to CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones. Grass has been the preferred playing surface for players, but has proved to be a point of contention for stadium operators as it is not as durable as turf and doesn't hold up well during non-NFL events such as concerts. 

Under the previous turf field at MetLife Stadium, Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, and Kyle Fuller all suffered season-ending injuries while playing on the surface. Meanwhile, this newer surface doesn't appear to be a strong alternative either. During the first week of it down for NFL action back in 2023, then-Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles, and now Nabers could prove to be the latest to suffer a severe injury, again putting this field under an unflattering spotlight.