Things went from bad to worse for the Bills in Week 5, as their 25-20 loss to the Jaguars in the NFL London game came with a number of injuries to key players.
Multiple members of the Bills defense went down with injuries, including All-Pro LB Matt Milano and starting DT DaQuan Jones, who were ruled out for the game, and LB Von Miller, who saw his day end early after making his return to the field after tearing his ACL last Thanksgiving. CB Taron Johnson, who briefly exited with a knee injury, didn’t hold back when theorizing that the playing surface at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium had a hand in the injuries.
“I think that turf is terrible,” Johnson said after the game. “My foot got stuck in the ground, but I’m OK, thank God. Take that turf out, especially that one.”
Johnson avoided a serious injury as Bills officials initially brought out an injury cart to assist him off the field. He declined to use the cart and walked off on his own power, eventually going back into the game after initially being ruled questionable to return.
MORE: NFL, NFLPA spar about stadium playing surfaces after Aaron Rodgers injury
Within his assessment of the situation, Johnson brought back the debate of playing on grass vs. artificial turf.
“I’d rather play on grass — I’m sure 90 to 100 percent of the players in the NFL would rather play on grass so I don’t know why we’re playing on stuff like that,” he told reporters.
“There were injuries on the field today, some really really bad. So I just feel like the turf had something to do with it.”
Per Ryan O’Halloran of The Buffalo News, an unnamed Bills player is quoted asking: “We came all the way over to London to play on f— cement?”
Bills injury updates
While Jones’ injury was an upper-body issue likely unrelated to the turf, Johnson is seemingly basing the situation with his knee to allude to the knee injury suffered by Milano, which Bills head coach Sean McDermott shared “is not looking good.”
After suffering the injury, Milano’s knee was immediately immobilized in an air cast and he has undergone testing to determine the severity.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Milano suffered a broken leg and could also have a torn ACL. He is “likely” to miss the rest of the season.
MORE: Which NFL stadiums use grass vs. artificial turf?
Members of the Jaguars were impacted by injuries as well as WR Zay Jones re-aggravated a knee injury and OL Walker Little exited with a knee injury that could force him to miss time.
Adding to the frustration present among the Bills players is the fact that the stadium’s usual tenant, Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, play their home games on a hybrid grass playing surface. For NFL games, the grass is rolled up and games in the stadium are played on artificial turf.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will host one more NFL game in the 2023 NFL Season — a Week 6 meeting between the Ravens and Titans. Given the nature of the discussion following Week 5, the playing surface will again be a topic of discussion in London.
2023-10-08 19:38:27
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