The 2026 World Cup has created a topic of conversation among many NFL players, including Las Vegas Raiders QB Kirk Cousins and San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.
The reason? The United States is one of three nations hosting the major soccer tournament across several NFL stadiums. The catch? All the fields are using real grass, not artificial turf.
Even stadiums like MetLife Stadium, which have a notorious history of NFL players suffering season-ending injuries on the artificial turf, have a grass field for the World Cup despite years of pleas to change the field from artificial turf to natural grass.
Kittle has had enough and called out the NFL through the NFLPA:
“We’ve made it clear that we prefer grass fields,” Kittle said. “We know it’s better on our bodies. And clearly, we know it’s possible based on everything that went into putting down grass fields for the World Cup in each stadium.
At this point, it comes down to the NFL making it a priority and choosing to invest in us as players, because our bodies are our business, which they get to capitalize on!”
Raiders’ Kirk Cousins Echoes 49ers’ George Kittle’s Message Calling Out the NFL
Kirk Cousins recently appeared on The Rich Eisen Show and echoed George Kittle’s plea on preferring grass over artificial turf.
“I notice that you could not beat natural grass fields. It felt so much better than the nicest field turf you can get. Going into the NFL I preferred grass. Not all grass fields are created equal. You go to Wembley Stadium in London, that had a different feel of natural grass than Lambeau Field.
I always side with well-kept grass; you cannot beat that. That is assuming it is going to be kept to the standard that you are expecting. Field turf is the simple answer in so many ways for so many people.”
Former longtime center for the Cleveland Browns and NFLPA president JC Tretter wrote more on how “only natural grass can level the NFL’s playing field.”
“Based on NFL injury data collected from 2012 to 2018, not only was the contact injury rate for lower extremities higher during practices and games held on artificial turf, NFL players consistently experienced a much higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries on turf compared to natural surfaces. Specifically, players have a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries when playing on artificial turf. Of those non-contact injuries, players have a 32% higher rate of non-contact knee injuries on turf and a staggering 69% higher rate of non-contact foot/ankle injuries on turf compared to grass.”
The cry for change will hopefully prompt the NFL to switch from artificial turf to grass for all 32 organizations.
Cousins Expected to Start in Las Vegas
GettyHENDERSON, NEVADA – MAY 28: Quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza #15 and Kirk Cousins #8 of the Las Vegas Raiders practice during an OTA offseason workout at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Health Performance Center on May 28, 2026 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
As for whether Cousins will be the starter Week 1 in Las Vegas, the safe bet is yes.
“The Raiders are adamant this is Kirk Cousins’ job,” Andrew Siciliano said on The Rich Eisen Show. “We [Raiders] are going to bring Fernando Mendoza around and along slowly. We do not want to force him in there. Brady waited. Brady obviously has a hand in this. Brady learned on the bench, behind Drew Bledsoe. We are going to do the same. However, we have all seen this movie before … Klint Kubiak is not the type of coach to go back on his word.”
Having Mendoza on the team is exciting, but it’s best to have him learn under Cousins for a few games (at the very least) before throwing him into the fire. Regardless of the Raiders’ plan, his time will come.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Raiders’ Kirk Cousins Echoes 49ers’ George Kittle’s Message Calling Out NFL appeared first on HEAVY.