Why the 49ers have so many injuries in training camp year after year

This is getting ridiculous.

Every day the 49ers practice this offseason, at least one of their players seems to go down with an injury. And many of these injuries are of the soft-tissue variety. Which means they're often non-contact injuries, which theoretically are more preventable than contact injuries. Football is a collision sport after all.

Still, there has to be a reason so many 49ers have gone down through the first 15 days of camp. Just yesterday at the 49ers' joint practice against the Raiders, roughly 20 of the 90 players on the 49ers' active roster were injured and inactive. So what's going on? What are the 49ers doing differently than the rest of the NFL? Or, are they simply unlucky?

Why the 49ers have so many injuries in training camp

Aug 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan watches from the sidelines in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

These offseason injuries have been an issue for the 49ers since before Kyle Shanahan became the head coach, to be fair to him. Still, he has been the head coach for nine seasons and still hasn't found a solution. Perhaps he's part of the problem.

Some people might blame the 49ers' head of strength and conditioning, Dustin Perry. I have no insight as to whether he's good or not at his job. He has been with the organization since 2017, so I assume he's decent. I also know that he follows the head coach's orders and schedules. And Shanahan structures his practices differently from most head coaches.

The past two weeks, the 49ers have held joint practices with the Broncos and Raiders, so I've been able to see how Sean Payton and Pete Carroll structure training camp practices. And their practices are long -- roughly two and a half hours. And they do lots of stretching -- both static and dynamic -- before they start their football activities.

Jul 24, 2025; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton during Denver Broncos Training Camp. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

This is also how Jim Harbaugh structured his training camps when he was the 49ers' head coach -- long, grueling, slow-paced practices. The goal is to toughen up the players -- help them "build a callous," as coaches say -- so they can stay healthy all season.

Keep in mind, teams are allowed to stretch and practice for a maximum of three hours a day during training camp.

Shanahan's practices often end after 90 minutes. Sometimes on longer days, they last two hours. But they are decidedly short compared to other teams. And to get through all the football drills they need to do in just 90 minutes, they seem to rush through warmups.

Slow down, @49ers. Take your time. pic.twitter.com/yrgT5u3dmT
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) August 16, 2025

When they practice on their own, they don't do static stretching -- they bounce and job through a dynamic stretch for about three or four minutes, then they get to football.

I don't know why Shanahan and the 49ers are in such a rush.

Slow down. Warm up. Stretch. If they do these things, they just might have fewer injuries.

It's worth a shot.

Why the 49ers have so many injuries in training camp

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