The New England Patriots are scrambling to replace their turf field at Gillette Stadium after NFL officials deemed it 'noncompliant' following this summer's FIFA World Cup.
Gillette Stadium had put down a natural grass playing surface to host matches during the soccer tournament. That grass has since been removed and an artificial turf surface was reinstalled.
But that pitch may need to be ripped up again before the Patriots host the Indianapolis Colts in a preseason game next Thursday. According to ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss, testing by the NFL and NFL Players Association's independent laboratory determined the surface was noncompliant.
Patriots chief operating officer Jim Nolan told Reiss that a replacement field will be put down this week.
Nolan said the field being installed is the latest version of the field that was taken out in January, and that from a player's perspective it will be incredibly consistent with what they played on last year.
If the new field also fails inspection, the preseason game could be scrapped altogether.
Past field failures have canceled NFL games
Ten years ago, the Hall of Fame Game between the Colts and the Green Bay Packers was called off after paint on the field became congealed and rubberized. Lawsuits from ticket holders who had traveled for the game led the NFL to move the Hall of Fame Game to before the induction ceremony instead of after it.
Further back, a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium was called off due to uneven cutouts in the playing surface, which at the time hosted both football and baseball.
