The Cleveland Police Department is investigating an incident at FirstEnergy Stadium that damaged the grass, News 5 Cleveland reports. According to police, a trespasser may have jumped a fence to drive a cart onto the field.
Several sets of tire tracks can be seen clearly on video from the news station’s helicopter, AirTracker5, and some of the ruts appear deep. Grounds crew worked on the field Tuesday afternoon, using a road roller in an attempt to smooth the ripped-up ground.
“We are aware of the incident that occurred early Tuesday morning at FirstEnergy Stadium and have provided the Cleveland Division of Police with all relevant information,” the Browns said in a statement to the station. “Based on our internal evaluation, there was some superficial damage to the playing field that our grounds maintenance team is currently working to repair. We take great pride in the strong reviews and reputation of our stadium’s playing surface, have been in touch with the NFL on the matter and are confident after repair [that] our field will be ready for Sunday’s game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
