Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said the NFL needs to change how it handles extreme field conditions after the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans played on artificial turf that reached 157 degrees last weekend at Nissan Stadium.
The surface heat in Nashville melted the soles of multiple pairs of cleats worn by Eagles left guard Cam Jurgens. Broadcast crews reported the turf temperature during the game.
Jurgens described the conditions after the contest.
“Halftime was like a NASCAR pit crew helping me get ready for the second half,” he said. “That turf was just radiating.”
Kelce addressed the situation on this week’s episode of the “New Heights” podcast he hosts with his brother Jason. He said the league should treat the Nashville game as a warning.
“You shouldn’t be allowed to do that. You shouldn’t be allowed to put players on a field that does that,” Kelce said. “Why is that even allowed? It’s so insane to me that you’re allowed to put the product in a situation like that. The NFL has got to figure something out for that. That’s insane.”
Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata also spoke about the heat radiating off the synthetic surface.
“I’ve never thought about how hot a stadium can be if it’s turf. [The heat] just sits there and bounces up into you,” Mailata said. “We’ve got to bring it up. This is why we want all grass fields, to create a standard of play in the league where we’re not putting players in dangerous positions if we don’t have to.”
Nissan Stadium is one of 14 NFL venues that use artificial turf in 2026. Sixteen of the league’s 32 teams play their home games on synthetic surfaces.
Player advocates have long cited injury data favoring natural grass. NFL Players Association analysis of 2012-18 seasons found a 28 percent higher rate of non-contact lower-extremity injuries on turf compared with grass.
The same data showed 32 percent more non-contact knee injuries and 69 percent more non-contact foot and ankle injuries on artificial surfaces.
The NFL has maintained in recent years that overall injury rates between the two surfaces are similar when all categories are counted. League officials pointed to 2025 figures showing rates of 0.43 injuries per game on turf and 0.42 on grass.
Players have repeatedly argued that those totals mask differences in lower-body wear and non-contact injuries that affect availability over a 17-game season plus playoffs.
The Nashville game occurred in late September heat. Outdoor turf fields can retain and reflect solar radiation more than natural grass, which absorbs some of the energy and cools through evapotranspiration when watered.
Several other outdoor stadiums still use turf, including those used by the Patriots, Seahawks, Bengals, Giants and Jets. Indoor and retractable-roof venues account for the rest of the synthetic fields.
Kelce and other veterans have pushed for a league-wide grass standard for years. The union has formally requested that the NFL eliminate turf fields, citing both injury numbers and player recovery time after games.
No immediate rule change has been announced. Field surfaces remain a decision for individual teams and stadium operators, often influenced by maintenance costs and multi-use event schedules.
The Eagles won the game 24-20. Both teams later discussed the surface conditions in media sessions and on podcasts.
The incident adds to a running debate that also includes cold-weather games and lightning delays, which already have specific league protocols requiring a 30-minute wait after the last nearby strike.
