Eric Canha-Imagn Images
A general view of the stadium before the game between New York Jets and New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium
The New England Patriots spent the last month treating Gillette Stadium like a suburban homeowner who cannot decide what to do with the backyard. They ripped out their old turf for World Cup grass, ripped out the grass for brand-new turf, and now have to rip out that turf too because the NFL decided the replacement did not pass its laboratory compliance process.
The Patriots are installing yet another artificial surface before Thursday’s preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts.
At this point, the grounds crew deserves its own depth chart.
Gillette Stadium Is On Its Third Surface Of The Summer
FIFA required natural grass for the seven World Cup matches played in Foxborough, so Gillette temporarily ditched its usual artificial setup. The final game there was France’s quarterfinal win over Morocco on July 9, and the grass was removed almost immediately afterward.
That decision already created a turf debate because NFL players have spent years asking why soccer can get natural grass at American football stadiums while they are sent back onto synthetic surfaces.
New England went ahead anyway and installed a fresh artificial field for the Patriots and MLS’s New England Revolution.
Then the replacement failed the paperwork portion of the assignment.
The field passed the NFL and MLS tests performed at Gillette, but the league still deemed it noncompliant under the NFL and NFLPA’s independent lab protocols.
The issue was not that players stepped onto the new turf and immediately sank into quicksand. It came down to how the system had been tested before installation.
In March, the turf was tested over concrete with an “E-layer,” a rubber shock pad underneath it. Gillette does not use that setup. Its field sits over a stone-dust base without the E-layer, creating enough of a mismatch for the installed surface to be ruled noncompliant even though it passed the on-site tests.
That is an incredible sentence after an entire World Cup spent watching stadium operators obsess over grass length, ball roll and field consistency.
The Patriots Are Basically Installing The Old Field Again
Kraft Sports + Entertainment COO Jim Nolan said the new surface will be the latest version of what Gillette used before the World Cup and should feel “incredibly consistent” with last season’s field.
Translation: everybody just did a month-long landscaping side quest to arrive back where they started.
The Revolution played at Gillette on Saturday night, and crews were scheduled to begin the latest replacement immediately afterward. The goal is to have everything finished before the Colts arrive Thursday for New England’s first preseason game.
There is no indication the game is expected to be moved, and the Patriots clearly believe the turnaround can be completed in time.
Still, the sequence is spectacular.
Turf.
Grass.
Different turf.
Sorry, wrong turf.
Another turf.
Most NFL teams spend August swapping out the fifth receiver or deciding which backup cornerback survives final cuts. New England is apparently holding an open competition at playing surface.
The whole situation also adds another layer to the league’s grass-versus-turf argument. Gillette installed natural grass because FIFA demanded it, removed that grass once FIFA left town, and then discovered its shiny new NFL surface needed to be replaced before the Patriots could even play a preseason game on it.
Maybe the fourth field is the charm.
If not, Home Depot opens at 6 a.m.