49ers’ Strange Offseason Takes Another Turn With Kyle Shanahan Car Accident

The 49ers’ offseason continues to get weirder. 

On Saturday, the team announced that head coach Kyle Shanahan was in a car accident on July 14 and would be limited in his role at the start of training camp. 

Shanahan was part of a two-car accident in Palo Alto that led him to be hospitalized. The other driver wasn’t taken to the hospital, and neither driver was cited in the accident. San Francisco GM John Lynch said Shanahan had a concussion from the accident as well as a broken nose, broken ribs, and an injured hand. He also needed 40 stitches to his face. 

“Kyle is doing good,” Lynch told reporters. “He’s got some bumps and bruises. He did suffer a concussion in the accident, has some lingering effects from that concussion.”

Lynch said Shanahan is in concussion protocol similar to the one players go through and that doctors will determine his workload as he progresses. While Lynch said the team expects Shanahan to be healthy enough to coach the season-opener, it’s not his decision to make. 

“He broke some ribs, that’s painful, but that’s not what’s keeping him away,” Lynch said. “It’s the concussion. And like I said, we’ll continue to evaluate him, phase him back. And as he can tolerate things, we’ll expand those. And that will clearly be dictated by the doctors and nothing else.”

Delayed Disclosure

Shanahan’s accident raised questions around the reporting of it given the 12-day difference between the time it occurred and when it was first reported. 

In recent years, the 49ers have dominated preseason headlines with a star player holding out, whether it was Brandon Aiyuk in 2024, Nick Bosa (2023) or Deebo Samuel (2022). But since the 49ers lost to the eventual-champion Seahawks in the NFC divisional round of the playoffs, the team has been part of a unique news cycle. 

The 49ers have unsuccessfully tried to trade Aiyuk, who hasn’t played since 2024 after suffering a torn ACL and MCL, among other injuries. Aiyuk had $76 million guarantees in his contract voided in November after he repeatedly skipped team meetings and activities and stopped contacting Lynch and Shanahan. 

Aiyuk criticized the organization on social media and claimed he would join the Commanders, but still needs to be reinstated by the NFL to do so. Lynch sidestepped questions about Aiyuk, who has been on the reserve/left team list since December. 

“Brandon is on a left squad designation,” Lynch said. “As such, he’s not on our 90-man roster. And I’m personally, and we as an organization, are going to focus on the players that are here. And so, I don’t have anything to say on that, anything to add to that. We wish him well. We wish his family well.”

Schedule Drama

The 49ers are also at the center of the NFL’s schedule release, with an opening week game in Australia against the Rams on Sept. 10, the first in NFL history, and a November matchup in Mexico City against the Vikings. 

The schedule has drawn ire from fans who would have to pay to travel for the team’s two international games and for the toll it has on the players. 

“I was so fired up,” Shanahan sarcastically said back in March. “That was our goal to go 19 hours away to play a game. … We’ll deal with it. And I think there’s [nine] international games. We’ve got two of them, so we’re fired up about that.”

While the Aiyuk saga and Shanahan’s injuries linger, the team’s offseason wasn’t too bad. The team signed star wide receiver Mike Evans to pair with quarterback Brock Purdy and extended Trent Williams, who is one of the game’s best offensive linemen.