playJamison HensleySep 21, 2026, 04:38 PM ETCloseJamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsNFL field director Nick Pappas said there are “no concerns right now” about the field conditions in Rio de Janeiro for Sunday’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens.”Look, there’s the realities of managing any playing surface and then there’s also the realities of managing a grass playing surface that’s being used midseason,” Pappas told ESPN on Monday.
“So it’s all about monitoring it. It’s all about having a plan in place and then being able to react to anything that maybe comes our way.”Pappas added, “So what we’ve seen in Rio is a significant amount of rainfall, a record kind of rainfall over the last six weeks. And that obviously poses challenges just from a management perspective, but nothing that we’re not capable of managing or prepared to take.”Asked if there has been any talk about moving the game, Pappas said, “No, that’s not a conversation.”Questions about the quality of the playing surface at Rio’s Maracanã Stadium started last week when professional soccer players voiced complaints about their home stadium’s grass field.”It’s unbelievable that we’re playing on a field like this,” Flamengo Football Club goalkeeper Agustín Rossi said, according to AtoZ Sports. “If you look at it, there are bumps everywhere.
There’s still going to be an NFL game here during the international break. After that game, I hope the field is in better shape.”The Cowboys and Ravens are both flying in Thursday night and practicing in Brazil on Friday.Asked about the Ravens’ concern level over the field, Baltimore coach Jesse Minter said, “It’s really in the league’s hands, and I think we’ve been in contact with them. They got people there, feel pretty good about it. So both teams are going to be playing there, and we’ll be ready to roll.”After Dallas’ 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said, “I trust that the league’s going to make the right decision and they’ll get the field up to standard.”This marks the NFL’s third game in Brazil but first in Rio.
In the league’s first game in South America in 2024, a number of players for the Eagles and Packers lost their footing during the game and later attributed it to the slick surface at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo.The most extreme circumstance with an international game came in 2018, when the NFL moved the Chiefs-Rams game from Mexico City to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum because of poor field conditions at Estadio Azteca.”I know that’s of utmost concern to the league that the teams have good playing service down there,” Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Sunday. “So, well, obviously, you’ll certainly stay informed as we look to it.”ESPN’s Todd Archer contributed to this report.
