The San Francisco 49ers will practice this week at UNLV on fields they have deemed unsatisfactory. According to Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle, the team may consider holding their more intense Thursday session at an alternate location—potentially the Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada. That's the Raiders' facility.
Utilizing this location would necessitate some schedule adjustments, which might not sit well with the designated home team, the Kansas City Chiefs. They are practicing there this week.
This situation arose when the NFL laid natural grass over UNLV's artificial turf in anticipation of the NFC champions' arrival. The designated home team switches each year based on the conference. This year is the AFC champion's turn, which means the Chiefs received the more favorable facilities. Last week, the 49ers dispatched equipment staff and grounds team members to Las Vegas to inspect their own temporary practice grounds, only to find them lacking.
On Monday morning, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported that the 49ers found the UNLV fields "a bit soft for their liking." Nevertheless, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell insisted that the fields were "playable," brushing aside the 49ers' concerns and seemingly trivializing their grievances.
The leak of something that should have remained internal forced the 49ers to suck it up, with Silver suggesting that the information breach may have been intentional, with Goodell and the NFL reaping the benefits.
"We're not worried about it at all," head coach Kyle Shanahan said during Monday's "Super Bowl Opening Night" event. "It is what it is. We're here. We won't change anything."
Shanahan further stated, "We're not going to completely change our schedule, do something crazy. We'll deal with what we've got, and we're good."
In the face of Goodell and the NFL publicly dismissing and seemingly diminishing their concerns, the 49ers had little choice but to submit. Silver delved into the specifics of the 49ers' concerns, which appear valid. According to the journalist, "All current NFL fields have a GMAX score between 70 and 80."
A lower GMAX score indicates that the field absorbs more energy, thus increasing the risk of injury. Last week, the UNLV fields received a score of 48. Coupled with reports that the 49ers described the surface as "spongy," it's understandable why they're concerned. Silver notes that the current GMAX score is in the low 50s—an improvement, but still not ideal.
Silver also highlighted another frustrating aspect of the situation. In asserting that the fields met acceptable standards, Goodell cited two fields the 49ers have used as comparable surfaces. The first was MetLife Stadium, which resulted in several injuries for the 49ers, including a torn ACL for defensive end Nick Bosa, and was the catalyst for an injury-plagued 2020 campaign.
"To say the 49ers were triggered [by the comparison] would be an understatement," wrote Silver.
He continued, "The other example cited by the league was Nissan Stadium in Nashville. What Goodell neglected to add was this: Before this season, both Nissan and MetLife underwent surface overhauls in an effort to reduce injuries."
It's obvious the NFL was never going to bend over backward to ease the 49ers' concerns, leaving the team with one option: persevere.
