The Buffalo Bills haven't played a regular-season game at their new $2.2 billion stadium yet.
They're already on their second field.
The first one didn't last lawn.
Crews stripped the Kentucky bluegrass from Highmark Stadium this week, leaving the playing surface almost entirely bare less than two weeks before the Bills' home opener against the Detroit Lions.
The dramatic-looking makeover is intentional.
The Bills are replacing the entire grass surface after chunks of the original sod came loose during the first football events at Highmark Stadium in August. The new grass is expected to be completely installed by the end of this week and ready well before the Bills host the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Sept. 17.
"We're committed to having the best possible
playing surface for our players," Bills president of business operations Pete Guelli said in a statement. "With a stretch of three consecutive home games early in the season, we decided it was the appropriate time to re-sod our field."
Why are the Bills replacing the grass at Highmark Stadium?
Field update pic.twitter.com/06ZC28BJcn
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The original Kentucky bluegrass was installed in October 2025, nearly a year before the stadium's first regular-season game.
There was one thing the grounds crew couldn't simulate: NFL players.
Problems became noticeable once the Bills began practicing and playing on the field in August, starting with the Return of the Blue & Red practice on Aug. 8.
Large pieces of sod were displaced during the preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 15. On one play, a chunk came loose when Bills quarterback Kyle Allen slid after scrambling.
Players and officials had to stomp sections of grass back into place.
The field improved by the Bills' preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 27 and passed the NFL's safety and playability standards. The Bills nevertheless decided to replace it rather than risk additional problems once the regular season began.
Aaron Ramella, the Bills' senior director of grounds, told The Buffalo News that ordinary divots weren't the problem. The concern was larger sections of the top layer of sod getting pushed apart when players hit the ground at different angles.
"We didn't know leading up to Return of the Blue and Red," Ramella said. "Nobody was on it. We're going off what we did at the practice fields and some past history."
The replacement grass should be stronger.
Tuckahoe Turf Farms in New Jersey grew approximately 80,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass for the Bills to use for repairs and eventually re-sod the field.
The Bills tested the replacement sod in the south end zone during their preseason finale against Pittsburgh, and it held up during the game.
"The new sod is stronger than what's there right now," Ramella said.
Will the Highmark Stadium grass be ready for the Bills' home opener?
Yes.
Installing a new natural-grass surface doesn't require waiting weeks or months before an NFL team can play on it.
The Bills began removing the old grass Monday and expect the new surface to be completely installed by the end of this week. That gives it nearly two weeks before Buffalo's first regular-season home game.
The Bills open the season on the road against the Houston Texans on Sept. 13 before returning to Orchard Park four days later to play the Lions on Thursday Night Football.
It begins a stretch of three consecutive games at Highmark Stadium.
Why isn't the heated field keeping the grass healthy?
Highmark Stadium has an advanced natural-grass system, but a heated field doesn't make the grass indestructible.
The heating system beneath the playing surface is designed to keep the soil and turf at temperatures that allow grass to continue growing during cold western New York winters. It also helps prevent the surface from freezing and can melt snow.
The stadium has irrigation and a sub-air system that can remove water and manipulate conditions beneath the playing surface.
None of that can prevent pieces of sod from being physically uprooted by players running, cutting and tackling on the field.
Will the Bills replace the Highmark Stadium grass again this season?
Maybe.
Re-sodding is a normal part of maintaining natural-grass football fields, and this won't be the last time the Bills replace the surface at Highmark Stadium.
Ramella told The Buffalo News that the average lifespan of a grass playing surface at a football-centric facility such as Highmark Stadium is approximately seven events.
The Bills have eight regular-season home games.
That doesn't mean they're destined to rip everything up again before Game 8. Weather, usage and the condition of the grass will determine when another replacement is necessary.
"It's not a cure-all," Ramella said. "We're still going to have divots. It's a living grass field. We'll be better than where we're at now. There will be a random push or random divot. That's football. We're not playing on a rug anymore."
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Why doesn't the Bills' new stadium have any grass? Here's what's happening
