Rams' Cooper Kupp: 'Hands Down' All NFL Games Should Be Played on Grass

The Los Angeles Rams play at SoFi Stadium, which is one of the 14 NFL fields with an artificial surface.

Wide receiver Cooper Kupp wishes that wasn't the case.

"It's not even close," Kupp said when asked if he prefers natural grass over turf, per Sarah Barshop of ESPN. "I know there's stuff going around the league right now, there's some issues. Hands down, we should be playing on grass. Hands down, we should be on grass. And that's all I'm going to say."

SoFi Stadium's playing surface was in the headlines this past Sunday when Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf and Los Angeles Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson each suffered patellar injuries on non-contact plays during their game.

Jackson was lost for the season after rupturing the patellar tendon in his right knee, while Metcalf may miss the upcoming game against the New York Giants even though his left patellar tendon injury was less serious.

"I think we definitely need to look at this really seriously in the offseason again," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said of the debate between grass and turf, per ESPN's Brady Henderson. "It's been a discussion before. We've got to do what's right, and we've got to do what's safest for the players and we've got to make those choices. I would pound on the drum for that."

Seattle's Lumen Field also has an artificial surface.

Henderson noted NFL Players Association president JC Tretter advocated for all teams to switch to grass fields in 2020. Tretter used data collected from 2012 to 2018 that revealed players suffered noncontact lower-extremity injuries at a 28 percent higher clip on turf than grass.

As for Kupp and the Rams, they will be back on the turf at SoFi Stadium on Sunday when they host the San Francisco 49ers in an NFC West showdown.