The Real Story Behind Jeff Wilson Jr.'s Torn Meniscus

Heavy squats can cause meniscus tears. So it seems quite possible that Wilson Jr. overdid his weightlifting, and the 49ers' training staff should have been monitoring him more closely and effectively.

A freak injury?

That's what the 49ers keep calling Jeff Wilson Jr.'s torn meniscus -- a freak injury. Something totally random they had no control over and can learn nothing from.

"Jeff got hurt sitting down in a chair in the locker room and he got out of it and his knee got in an awkward position," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "So, you know obviously it was a freak, unfortunate accident."

Call that the 49ers' official narrative of the injury. 

General manager John Lynch described the event like this: "He was in the locker room. He was sitting down, talking to some teammates. He got up, and as he got up and turned, he felt a pop in his knee and it kind of got stuck. And his knee — he could tell something was wrong. The next day they did imaging and found out he had a substantial meniscus tear."

Same story, except Lynch went on to reveal a crucial, additional detail: Wilson Jr. tore his meniscus in the locker room just after he had finished a legs workout in the 49ers weight room.

I'm no doctor, but it certainly seems the most relevant detail of Wilson Jr.'s meniscus tear is the fact that it happened immediately following a legs workout the 49ers structured and supervised, not that it happened in the locker room.

Heavy squats can cause meniscus tears. So it seems quite possible that Wilson Jr. overdid his weightlifting, and the 49ers' training staff should have been monitoring him more closely and effectively.

That's quite a different story than the one Shanahan and Lynch have publicly stated.