Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones "was adamant" last night that he "was wrong" about his concerns Friday with the grass field at Levi’s Stadium, according to Brandon George of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The field condition for yesterday's Cowboys-49ers preseason game "was never an issue," as the new grass "held up well and the Cowboys didn’t report any lower-body injuries." Jones said, "Anything I said about their grass I’m wrong, I take back. It’s a great playing surface. They’ve done a lot of work. I feel terrible that in any way, without coming up here and doing my own grass inspection, that I had any criticism of their grass. ... I owe them an apology. They've taken enough heat as it is. My hat's off to them" (DALLASNEWS.com, 8/23). Jones said that he went out early yesterday to "look at the field and changed his stance." Jones: "I really want to make it a point since I did make it a point to comment about it, I want everyone to know that I hadn't done my Jones test. I hadn't gotten down and looked at the roots" (AP, 8/23).
THE GREEN THUMB: CSNBAYAREA.com's Matt Maiocco noted the 49ers worked with a "different supplier" for the turf for yesterday's game. Evergreen Turf of Chandler, Ariz., which also supplies the playing field for the Cardinals’ Univ. of Phoenix Stadium, revealed via its Twitter account Friday that it "installed the grass surface" for Cowboys-49ers. The relationship with Evergreen "will continue," West Coast Turf "may be the supplier for the next complete re-sodding of Levi’s Stadium for the regular-season opener" Sept. 14, against the Vikings (CSNBAYAREA.com, 8/22). But CSN Bay Area's Jim Kozimor noted in year two of Levi’s Stadium, the 49ers "can’t seem to get those things going.” SI’s Phil Taylor said, "It's already become a minor embarrassment, I would say. Around the country, around the league, people are looking at this and saying, ‘What competent organization builds a state-of-the-art stadium and can't get the grass right, the foundation of it all?’" With Super Bowl 50 heading to Levi's Stadium in February, the S.F. Chronicle's Scott Ostler said he imagines the NFL has "already been on the phone to the 49ers" (“Sports Talk Live,” CSN Bay Area, 8/21).
GET OFF MY LAWN: THE MMQB's Peter King writes, "If I were the 49ers, with all the turf problems they’ve had at Levi’s Stadium, I wouldn’t be having Taylor Swift doing two shows in the preseason at the stadium, necessitating a new turf installation for the first preseason home game Aug. 23, and I wouldn’t have Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line doing a show Aug. 29 inside the stadium, five nights before the second home preseason game Sept. 3." The 49ers and the city of Santa Clara "have an understanding that revenue-producing events like the mega-popular concerts will be sought for the stadium." That "makes business sense," but there "ought to be a line of demarcation." King: "Something like: All concerts should be scheduled between March 1 and Aug. 10. After that, it’s got to be all football" (MMQB.SI.com, 8/24).
