There is a school of thought that injuries are as unpredictable as tipped passes. They happen to some teams and not others; more by chance than design.
Yet, in San Francisco, the 49ers, both fans and the organization alike, are asking if something can be done about their propensity for suffering more injuries than seemingly any team in the league … year-after-year. Their quarterback is young, but Brock Purdy missed nearly as many games as he played last year due to injuries. It is becoming common for the four-year pro to miss some time every season.
In 2025, the 49ers got the benefit of five-year pro Mac Jones filling in like he was a franchise quarterback. He led the team as their starter eight times, the 49ers won five of his starts and he was key to them advancing to the playoffs.
Perhaps, if it was just Purdy sidelined for half the season, given how well Jones filled in, the 49ers might have gone deeper into the postseason while playing out of the toughest division in football, the NFC West. A win on the final night of the regular season in front of their home fans could have vaulted the 49ers into the number one seed for the postseason. Instead, that top spot went to the Seattle Seahawks, who not only beat the 49ers in their regular season final game but parlayed their home field advantage into an eventual win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
The problem is that Purdy was not the only starter for the 49ers missing in action. Lost for the campaign were their best two defensive players, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. They also lost their best tight end, George Kittle, who suffered more injuries than they could have covered in an episode of M*A*S*H.
There were other injuries the 49ers suffered last year, but you get the idea. Consider this, the two teams that played in last month’s Super Bowl started and ended their regular campaigns with the same five offensive lineman and their quarterbacks, Sam Darnold and Drake Maye, enjoyed mostly injury free seasons.
So, are the 49ers cursed, or is there something in their training program that is not addressing methods to have their players available on game days? I know this and understand I’m not comparing my high school basketball days to the National Football League, but our coach started every practice with extended warm-up drills and had us exercise our ankles with reps where we rolled them in and out.
Injured ankles in basketball are common; we never had any of our players suffer an ankle injury while following that regimen.
The 49ers showed great resilience last year, but while injured teams can struggle to somewhat successful seasons, they seldom finish a year hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
And how about those Green Bay Packers? While the 49ers overcame multiple injuries, once they lost the services of star lineman Micah Parsons, they lost every game including coughing up two seemingly insurmountable leads to division rival Chicago that allowed the Bears to first win their NFC North Division title and then oust the Packers in the playoffs.
Some teams just are built to overcome adversity.
The 49ers were, the Packers weren’t.
But if the 49ers are going to add a trophy to their case, they had better find a way to avoid season crippling setbacks due to injuries. And if there is a reason, they are the team most injury prone, they better fix that liability with whatever it takes. Their bright staff, including Head Coach Kyle Shanahan and General Manager John Lynch, are looking for a solution to their injury prone team.
If it is as easy as a high school basketball team rolling their ankles to avoid injuries, I expect the 49ers will find it.