Pete Carroll would not go so far as to blame the trashed turf at FedEx Field for the ACL injury to Seattle's top pass rusher, Chris Clemons, but it's quite possible that both Clemons and kicker Steven Hauschka -- along with Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III -- were victims of one of the league's worst fields Sunday.
You'd think the league's most valuable franchise would be able to keep a professional-caliber field, especially for a playoff game. But FedEx was an embarrassment to Washington and owner Dan Snyder.
Carroll made it clear the condition of the field was unacceptable and said it trumped Chicago's notoriously crappy Soldier Field.
"It was horrible. It's a horrible field. It's as bad as a field can get for being dry," Carroll told ESPN 710. "It's too bad. Really it's too bad. And we deserve better. So I hope something will (happen), for the other teams that got to play there. It just was worn out. There was a lot of slipping and all that kind of stuff.
Carroll said it affected both sides equally, but "we should just expect to see a better field at that time of year."
Asked if he thought it contributed to Clemons' knee injury, Carroll said, "I don't know that. As he planted, there was a push on him by the offensive lineman that kind of hit simultaneous as his foot planted, and he got caught. I don’t know that. The field was not a great turf to play on. There was a lot of loose footing out there.”
Redskins coach Mike Shanahan told reporters that the team would address the problem for next season and he might be open to an artificial surface.
"You would like to have the perfect field, yes," he said. "Relative to turf, you just have to judge if you’re willing to go in that direction because of the injuries on turf compared to grass.
“I would talk about it. I would talk about it. But I do like natural grass. ... We have that here, but for some reason it’s just not working as well. Anyway, we’ll try to address that for next (season).”
Of course, that doesn’t help Clemons and the Seahawks this season.
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