The Buffalo Bills have yet to open the doors of their new home for a regular-season game, but they are already replacing the front lawn.
The Bills announced they will install a new grass field at their new $2.2 billion stadium beginning Monday after the original field was unable to handle the rigors of an NFL game during a preseason contest Aug. 15 against the Carolina Panthers.
The field held up much better in a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, but the Bills elected not to take any chances. The first regular-season game at the new venue is Sept. 17 against the Detroit Lions.
“We’re committed to having the best possible playing surface for our players,” Bills president of business operations Pete Guelli said in a statement, according to The Athletic. “With a stretch of three consecutive home games early in the season, we decided it was the appropriate time to re-sod our field.”
The Bills played home games on an artificial surface for 53 seasons at Ralph Wilson Stadium, which is adjacent to the new stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. The last time the franchise played on a grass field for home games was 1972 at War Memorial Stadium.
