The playing surface at TCF Bank Stadium is "as hard as concrete" and "unplayable," Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe tweeted Sunday afternoon after a brief practice there.
Despite skepticism from both Vikings and Chicago Bears players last week, team and University of Minnesota officials have expressed confidence that the field would be in acceptable condition for Monday night's game -- even after a mad scramble to clear 20-inch snow drifts from the field this week.
But after Sunday's practice, Kluwe issued a series of tweets that predicted the game would be a "trainwreck."
Kluwe: "The field is as hard as concrete an hour and a half after they took the tarp off, and anyone that hits their head is getting a concussion. ... I find it interesting that the NFL can claim an emphasis on player safety, and then tell us the field is fine. It's beyond hypocritical. ... I can only hope, however unlikely, that no one gets catastrophically injured at the trainwreck that's about to take place tomorrow night."
Via Twitter, Kluwe said he had been asked to stop tweeting about the playing conditions.
While Kluwe sounded off, Vikings interim coach Leslie Frazier praised the work done to get the field ready for Monday night's game and said he expects the players to be safe.
"A great job by the people that have worked on it all week long,"
Frazier told the team's website. "It really seems to me that there are going to be safe conditions. It's not something that our players have to be concerned about. We can just go out and play football, so it should be good for both teams."
Kevin Seifert covers the NFC North for ESPN.com