Cam Jurgens: Turf was just radiating heat in Nashville

The heat was on for the Eagles and the Titans during Sunday’s game in Nashville.

Temperatures in the high 90s and a heat index that went even higher drove the temperature of the playing surface at Nissan Stadium to 157 degrees according to the Fox broadcast. Players were changing cleats before they melted and spraying their feet with water to try to keep them cool, but Eagles guard Cam Jurgens said after the game that his feet were “still hurting.”

“Halftime was like a NASCAR pit crew helping me get ready for the second half,” Jurgens said, via Tim McManus of ESPN.com. “That turf was just radiating.”

Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata said that the heat coming off of the turf field was another reason why he would favor playing on grass.

“I’ve never thought about how hot a stadium can be if it’s turf. [The heat] just sits there and bounces up into you,” Mailata said. “We’ve got to bring it up. This is why we want all grass fields, to create a standard of play in the league where we’re not putting players in dangerous positions if we don’t have to.”

Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson called playing in those conditions a “mental test” and it was one that the Eagles were able to fight through well enough to win 24-20 and improve to 2-0 on the season.