Throughout a 2018 season full of injuries, the 49ers discussed ways to take steps to limit the number of games lost due to injuries.
Immediately after that season, the club created a new position to oversee athletic training and fitness and strength teams.
Coach Kyle Shanahan initially referred to the new role as the “head coach.”
Ben Peterson was hired from his job as director of sports science on the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers to take over his new role with the 49ers as head of player health and performance.
Two years later, the health of the team became an issue again.
Injuries were the main reason for the team’s 6-10 record and last place on NFC West.
Twenty-six players spent some time on the injured reserve list, including top players like Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, Deebo Samuel, Nick Bosa and Richard Sherman, each of whom missed most of the season.
These players were the main contributors in 2019, when the 49ers went 13-3 and advanced to Super Bowl LIV before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“We played a lot last year in the Super Bowl and went back to camp, and everyone has their own theories about perhaps what happened to the excessive amount of injuries,” said 49ers general manager John Lynch this week.
Was it just bad luck or was there a reason for so many injuries? This is a question for which there is no easy answer.
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Lynch offered a theory for the 49ers’ seemingly endless cycle of injuries, pointing to a canceled offseason program and a reduced squad even more relieved due to players who started the camp injured.
“When you lose match holders, now, suddenly, backups that were players from special teams are starting and playing on special teams,” said Lynch. “So the load on everyone kind of increases.
“I just felt like we were kind of late and never reached. You kept saying, as soon as we start losing guys, we’ll start getting guys back with short-term IR. The problem was that we never stopped losing guys. It was unforgiving this year, as well as many things. “
In a normal season, teams can bring 90 players to the training ground. Due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, the NFL lists have been reduced to 80.
And with the number of players who reported to the 49ers camp in Santa Clara with pre-existing injuries for rehabilitation, Lynch said the number was close to the 70 players available to practice.
“I think it happened across the league,” said Lynch. “We were affected not only by the amount of injuries, but by the quality. I looked at the suite yesterday and three suites, it looked like an All-Pro team. We need these guys on the field, not in the suite watching the game. “
Shanahan estimated the number at $ 81 million in salary cap this season, aimed at injured players.
“I think it’s the best in NFL history, this is a big deal,” said Shanahan.
Peterson, principal sports trainer Dustin Little and Dustin Perry, the head of strength and conditioning, are the best individuals in the areas that will receive the most attention.
“I’ll tell you something, we have tremendous faith in the team that we put together with our performance team and our strength and conditioning team,” said Lynch. “It remains. We are firm in our belief in them.
“But we are asking everyone to look closely, just as you do with the technical committee, with the staff. You self-talk and say, ‘What can we do better?’ We will look. We will turn each page and every detail to find out what we can do better and to improve our processes ”.
Shanahan said it is virtually impossible to implement a consistent and effective plan to limit injuries. He said he drew his own opinions about how much a team practices and how fast it practices in the season and in the off-season.
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Some years are good, he said. But other years, following exactly the same formula, are not. There is always an element of randomness and luck – good and bad.
After all, two of the players who lost no game time this season due to injuries were running back Jerick McKinnon and cornerback Jason Verrett. McKinnon missed the previous two seasons due to knee problems, while a series of injuries throughout Verrett’s career threatened to end his playing days.
“Whoever gives a simple answer to this is just trying to come up with a simple answer,” said Shanahan. “There is no simple answer that incorporates everything. Whatever your answer in a year, it may not be Next.”