Before the practice, the Bengals put Welcome Stadium's field through a vetting process, which it passedbengals
The field conditions at Welcome Stadium in Dayton, Ohio, are being questioned after an MRI "revealed torn ligaments" in Bengals WR A.J. Green's left ankle following the team's first training camp practice of the season, according to Tyler Dragon of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. Bengals WR Tyler Boyd called the turf "terrible." He said that he "saw rocks and pebbles on the turf." Boyd: "I couldn't run any routes out there. I'm falling all over the ground. It was bad. ... It was somewhere we shouldn't have been." However, Bengals coach Zac Taylor "didn’t blame the turf" for Green's injury. Bengals brass "did go through a vetting process and the field passed inspection." Green is "expected to be out six to eight weeks" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 7/29). NBCSPORTS.com's Peter King writes if the playing surface was "sub-standard, as some have claimed," the NFLPA has to "fight for its players -- and the Bengals will have to be held accountable if the surface was poor" (NBCSPORTS.com, 7/29). In Dayton, Laurel Pfahler noted Green suffered the injury "in front of 7,500 fans at Welcome Stadium," a venue that was chosen to host the team's first practice to "recognize Dayton as one of the 13 original NFL cities" (DAYTON DAILY NEWS, 7/28).
TWO SIDES TO THE STORY: THE ATHLETIC's Paul Dehner Jr. cites sources as saying that Green’s injury "had nothing to do with the turf" at Welcome Stadium. If Green had not been injured, then "nobody would be talking about" the practice. The NFL "wanted the Bengals in Dayton on Saturday as part of the 100th-anniversary celebration of the first NFL game" and making the event happen was "important to the organization." The Bengals have a "big fan base up there and value them." However, the facility is "old and far from what NFL players are used to." The field "wasn’t NFL-caliber." Sources said that "some inside the organization felt it might have been best to pass on going through the entire practice." The Bengals earlier this month sent officials to Dayton "to check everything out," and it was a "large group from many different departments including football operations, ticketing, marketing, across the board." NFL Network reps also "joined to try and hammer out the logistics of the event that would air live on the league network." Those investigating the site for the Bengals "didn’t view the field as a problem or consider backing out because of what they saw" (THEATHLETIC.com, 7/29).
CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO FORCES: ESPN's Mike Tannenbaum notes the "optics are terrible" regarding the situation. Green has missed 13 games over the past three seasons, but due to where the injury occurred, players like Boyd are "questioning whether or not the field was in good condition." There is some "tension in NFL franchises from the standpoint of you have the business side trying to extend the brand and regionalize the fan base. Of course you have the football side, where we are just trying to win games. This happens a lot this time of year where you want to go to different places to bring new eyeballs to the franchise" ("Get Up," ESPN, 7/29).
