Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has blamed the pitch of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the calf injury that he sustained late in the season.
The 30-year-old suffered the injury in his side's 20-3 victory over the Buccaneers in week 16 of the campaign, and it hindered him greatly for the rest of the season as he was no longer able to run out of the pocket during the playoffs.
Rodgers feels that the NFL needs to monitor and evaluate the surfaces that are used by teams across the league, especially late in the season.
"The calf was, in my opinion, due to the poor surface in Tampa," Rodgers told WAUK-AM. "Tampa is where I hurt my shoulder as well, back in 2008, and I think that there needs to be looked at some more uniformity as far as the field conditions.
"I think there are a couple of surfaces that are more likely to create injury than prevent injury. There are some incredible surfaces in the NFL. There are some ones that I think need to be looked at. Tampa is one of them because of the amount of play, I think, that happens there.
"When you put down so much sod and it's very uneven and soft, I think it can lend to more injuries. I've played there three times and been hurt there, in my opinion directly related to the field, twice."
Rodgers was named MVP of the NFL for the second time in his career for his exploits in the 2014 season.
