Belichick: Reliant Stadium Turf is "terrible" and source of Welker's Injury

[Keith]

Sheesh, somebody call the waaaahhhbumlance already.

Bill Belichick laid the blame for Wes Welker's blown ACL and MCL on the inconsistent turf at Reliant Stadium.

Speaking on WEEI this afternoon, the Patriots head coach said "stride to stride" it was woefully inconsistent. "You think it's going to grab and it gives, you think it's going to give and it grabs and that's where you get those non-contact injuries like what we saw Sunday," Belichick said, referring to the play that ended Welker's 2009 season.

"With the level of play we have in the NFL, a consistent level (of field quality) would be a No. 1 priority," Belichick said. "We talk about player safety and hits ... but to me, player safety starts with the surface we play on. When I walked out before the game, I was surprised to see how bad it was. You go from area to area and it's not consistent, that's not what you see (in other stadiums)" ...

"The quality of the field I thought was poor," said Belichick. "The turf down there's terrible. It's just inconsistent."

http://www.csnne.com/pages/landing_p...68&feedID=4023

First, if it sucked so bad, then why keep playing Randy Moss and Tom Brady on the field? Second, I don't recall the turf monster claiming that many torn ACLs here either. And finally, this comes from a man accused of purposefully not covering his home turf in a winter storm five years ago to slow down the prolific Colts offense.

“My job is not to pull weeds,” he said Wednesday with an innocent-looking smirk. “I have a lot of other things to do. Or rake the field and all of that. I’m sure that will all be taken care of.”

It's not the first time he called a field "terrible". He labeled his own home turf as such a few years ago.

``The field is in terrible condition," Belichick said yesterday. ``I don't think anybody in this organization is happy about it, or thinks it's in good condition. Everybody in this organization would like to see that field in better condition than what it's in. Everybody."

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...m_a_dust_bowl/