The San Francisco 49ers’ practice field has become an issue during the week leading up to Super Bowl LVIII, and at least behind the scenes, it is not going away.
According to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports, the 49ers are “furious” with how the league has handled their practice field issue, though they have downplayed their frustration in public. The 49ers have been practicing at UNLV’s facility, but have had some concerns over the field being too soft.
Publicly, the 49ers are taking the high road. But, behind the scenes, they are furious with how the NFL botched this. https://t.co/7B5T9W5jTn
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) February 7, 2024
Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked Monday about the report, but he dismissed the issue by saying the field had been verified as “playable.” This went down poorly with NFLPA leadership, which said in its own Wednesday press conference that the practice field was not satisfactory.
The 49ers have not joined in on the public criticism, perhaps because there is little to gain by doing so. At this point, it is quite clear that there is an issue there, and the team is probably even more angry at Goodell’s dismissal of that problem. At this stage of the week, however, there is probably not much that can be done about it anyway.
