The Bengals’ home games are played on slit-film turf, which has been shown to carry a higher risk of lower-extremity injuries, and which the NFL Players Association wants banned. But the Bengals say no new field surface is coming to Cincinnati.
Bengals Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn said the team sees no need to put in a new playing surface this season and doesn’t believe its surface is a problem.
“It’s not this year certainly. I don’t have statistics, but I really don’t think our turf has been a huge problem. Or a problem at all, to be quite honest,” Blackburn told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Last year seven teams -- the Bengals, Lions, Giants, Jets, Vikings, Saints and Colts -- used slit-film turf. The Lions have announced that they are changing to a different playing surface for the 2023 season, and other teams have said they are reviewing their playing surface. But the Bengals say their slit-film playing field isn’t going away.