Niners to look into ‘everything,’ including substation theory

Santa Clara, California – After another injury-plagued season, san francisco 49ers It is intended to investigate every avenue to find out why those diseases are increasing year after year.

General manager John Lynch said Wednesday that this includes investigating the viral conspiracy theory that his training facility and an electrical substation near Levi Stadium contributed to those injuries.

“As it pertains to the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look at everything,” Lynch said. “We’re contacting everybody to see if any studies exist other than a guy sticking a device under the fence and coming up with a number, I don’t know what that means? We know it exists. We’ve heard it’s been debunked. … The health and safety of our players is the top priority. We look into it. Our ownership, Zedd [York] It’s tremendous in terms of resources, and we will always be mindful of things. I know a lot of games have been won here since this facility opened, but yes, we won’t turn a blind eye.”

The theory that’s been circulating on the Internet and has made its way into the 49ers’ locker room – receivers kendrick bourne It was signaled after the tight end george kittel Tore his right Achilles in a playoff game against philadelphia – Suggests that the Niners’ lengthy injury list over the past decade can be attributed, in part, to excessive exposure to electromotive force (EMF).

The 49ers have trained in Santa Clara since the late 1980s and construction of the substation began a few years later. The station, which is operated by Silicon Valley Power, expanded with the opening of Levi Stadium in 2014.

This theory has been rejected by various scientists and medical professionals. Frank De Vocht, a professor of epidemiology and public health at Bristol Medical School in England, is considered a leading expert on how EMFs affect humans and told The Washington Post that the theory is “nonsense.”

Still, the 49ers’ injury issues over the past decade or so have been too strong to take anything off the table. This season, San Francisco lost three of its best players – defensive ends nick bossa (torn ACL), linebacker fred warner (broken ankle) and Kittle (Achilles) – for season-ending injuries. first round selection michael williams Also missed a large portion of the season (torn ACL).

There was a long absence for the quarterback. brock purdy (turf toe variant), receivers Ricky Pearsall (knee and ankle sprains) and john jennings (rib, shoulder and ankle) and linebacker tatum bethune (Waist).

According to OverTheCap, the 49ers had 20 players on the reserve list this season, with the adjusted annual value on their contracts being more than $95 million, nearly $20 million more than second in the league. Arizona.

This comes after a 2024 season in which the Niners led the league in adjusted games lost (141.2), a number that gauges the impact of injuries on teams. They also led the league in that category in 2020 (not including COVID-19).

“We’re always keeping an eye on trends, data, everything we do,” Lynch said. “Our health and the performance of our players is a top priority every year. It was tough this year, and it had an impact on our team, and we’ll continue to look. … We’ve really put a lot of time and effort into recruiting quality guys. And I think being at the forefront of injury prevention and I think this year, maybe because of the star players we lost, there was a lot of focus on that.”

On the injury front, Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan indicated that Bosa and Williams will have a chance to return at or before the start of training camp. Warner should be good to start the offseason program, and Kittle is expected to return during the season.

rookie linebacker nick martin The protocol was approved on Wednesday morning after the injury he suffered on November 30 and it ended in a difficult Jake Tonges Suffered a plantar fascia injury against seattle This will keep him out for about three weeks.

defensive tackle alfred collins The shoulder injury suffered last week against Seattle also may require surgery, Shanahan said.

According to Lynch, the 49ers will delve deeper into their entire process for injuries beyond conspiracy theories.

“The truth of the matter is that injuries are a part of the game,” Lynch said. “What we try to do is never to eliminate injuries, but to reduce injuries. And I think we have a lot of good processes in place. We’ll challenge all of them. And that process has started. It’s obviously never stopped. But yes, we’ll look at everything, and we’ll investigate everything.”