Key Cincinnati Bengals Weapon Carted Off During 1st Day With Controversial New Turf

Up-and-coming Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Charlie Jones was carted off the field at training camp Thursday.

Jones, who missed time in 2023 with a thumb injury, was looking to move into a more involved role with the Bengals offense now that former Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd signed with the Tennessee Titans.

The Cincinnati Bengals and WR Charlie Jones were practicing on new turf for the first time

Back in late February, the Bengals announced that the team would be moving away from slit film turf in favor of what is known as a FieldTurf CORE system.

According to an article from Yahoo Sports, slit-film turf has been shown to have higher rates of injuries.

“While slit-film surfaces, one type of synthetic material, have 2-3 more injuries per year, most of them are ankle sprains — a low-burden injury — whereas slit film also sees a lower rate of fewer high-burden ACL injuries compared to other synthetic fields,” NFL executive vice president of communications Jeff Miller said. “As a result, the league and NFLPA’s joint experts did not recommend any changes to surfaces at the meeting but agreed more study is needed.”

The Bengals joined the Indianapolis Colts and the Minnesota Vikings as the last teams to move away from the controversial playing surface.

Even though the Bengals moved away from slit-film turf, controversy still surrounded their decision on the type of surface the Bengals would be playing their home games on in the future. While their new turf is supposed to be better than slit-film turn, turf as a whole is seen as much worse than natural grass.

According to an article from Yahoo Sports, injury occurred almost 0.012 more times per 100 plays on turf than natural grass in 2022.

“In short, last year, the gap — much like the NFL’s credibility with players on this issue — was as wide as it has ever been, proving that (as the NFLPA suspected) 2021 was in fact an outlier,” Tretter wrote. “Now, 10 of the previous 11 years show the same exact thing — grass is a significantly safer surface than turf.”

Players and coaches both want grass, yet the Bengals organization decided to stick with turf, which is cheaper and easier to maintain, especially in an area of the country that freezes in the winter.

Former Seattle Seahawks defensive back Quandre Diggs said in the same Yahoo Sports article that the NFL should be able to find a way to manage the involved upkeep of natural grass.

“I know it’s hard to upkeep grass, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to do what’s best for this billion-dollar industry, and I think the players are a big part of that,” Diggs said. “So maybe we can take some ideas from the players.”

Cincinnati Bengals WR Charlie Jones’ precise diagnosis is unclear

Jones went down during a 7-on-7 drill that was taking place don’t the brand new turf in Paycor Stadium. It is unclear what the actual diagnosis is, but he was struggling to put weight on his right leg when he was helped onto the cart.

#Bengals WR Charlie Jones carted off the field.. pic.twitter.com/pqZjoqeXX3

— Cincinnati 💔 (@CincyProblems) August 8, 2024

Jones was being consoled by his teammates as he was carted off the field, which does not bode well for fans hoping the injury is not serious.

The cart is coming out for Charlie Jones right now. Half of the team is walking over to him on the cart before he leaves.

Hope it’s not serious. Absolutely awful timing for an injury pic.twitter.com/ON2D8AglZG

— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) August 8, 2024

Fans took to social media to wish Cincinnati Bengals WR Charlie Jones well

Upon seeing the video of Jones being carted to the locker room, many fans took to social media to wish Jones well and express their desire for an injury that lacks severity.

Many fans took the opportunity to call out the Bengals organization for refusing to switch to natural grass, even though data shows that injuries are less common on natural grass.

As a team whose season was decimated by a single injury in 2023, Bengals fans are hyper-aware of keeping their players safe during the 2024 season.

first practice on the new turf….

— dillon mitchell burner (@raggy___) August 8, 2024

New turf already claiming victims?

— Jake Burke (@burkey722) August 8, 2024

Turf was a good idea

— SlimPickens 🫠 (@steelerpickens) August 8, 2024

Bengals too cheap to invest in grass. This is what happens

— Gryphon (@GummyM3) August 8, 2024

Hope he’s able to recover quickly. Never want to see people get injured, but especially in training camp.

— Disorderly Conduct (@SeeMeTheRealDC) August 8, 2024

Get More NFL and College Football Content

For more news and trends in the college football world, click here or follow me on Twitter @KusleikaAndrew.