A recent theory has emerged linking the proximity of the 49ers’ practice facility to an electrical substation. And while there’s apparently nothing to it, the 49ers won’t shrug it off.
“What I would tell you, because it deals with allegedly the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look into everything,” G.M. John Lynch told reporters on Wednesday. “So, our guys have been — we’ve been reaching out to anyone and everyone to see does a study exist other than a guy sticking an apparatus underneath the fence and by coming up with a number that I have no idea what that means. That’s what we know exists. We’ve heard that debunked. So yes, we will look into it. We have. The health and safety of our players is of the utmost priority. We pour into it. Our ownership, [CEO] Jed [York], tremendous in terms of resources and we’ll always be cognizant of things. I know that a lot of games have been won at this facility since it opened. We aren’t going to turn a blind eye. We’ll look into everything.”
The 49ers have practiced in the same facility since 1988, winning three Super Bowls in the first seven years there. And even if there’s nothing to the electricity angle, the 49ers have had too many injuries in recent years.
“The health and performance of our players is at the utmost priority each and every year,” Lynch said. “You know, this year it was tough and it took a toll on our team. We’ll continue to look. Now, having said that, we’ve spent a lot of time and effort in recruiting really quality people and I think being at the forefront of injury prevention. I think this year probably because the star players that that went down there was a lot of attention given on that. The fact of the matter is injuries are a part of this game. And so, what we strive to do is never to eliminate injuries, but to mitigate injuries, and I think we have a lot of good processes. We’ll challenge them all. That process has begun. It never frankly stopped, but yes, we’ll look at everything and we’ll examine everything.”
A certain amount of injuries are unavoidable. Still, training and nutrition and flexibility can be factors in the ability of players to stay healthy. Whatever the reason for two straight years of too many injuries for the 49ers, they need to get to the bottom of the problem, and fix it.
