The 49ers’ Training Camp Is Off to a Nightmare Start… and Even the Substation Is Catching Strays

If you’re a San Francisco 49ers fan, you may want to avoid checking the injury report.

Or the news.

Or honestly… just stay off the internet for a day.

Because the start of the 49ers’ 2026 training camp has felt less like the beginning of a Super Bowl chase and more like the opening scene of a disaster movie.

Let’s review.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan is still recovering after a serious car accident that left him with multiple broken bones, a concussion and facial injuries. While he’s back around the team in a limited capacity and is expected to return before Week 1, it wasn’t exactly the storyline anyone expected entering camp.

Then the injury bug showed up.

And apparently decided to unpack its bags.

The 49ers have watched player after player land on the sideline despite efforts to lighten practice workloads. Reports indicate roughly 10 players have been unavailable at points during camp, with injuries continuing to pile up almost daily.

At this point, San Francisco can’t even make it through a practice without fans nervously refreshing social media.

Every notification feels dangerous.

“Who’s hurt now?”

It’s become an August tradition nobody asked for.

And then there’s… the substation.

Yes, the electrical substation that sits next to the practice fields has somehow become one of the biggest running jokes among the fan base. For years, some fans have jokingly blamed the nearby facility for the team’s seemingly endless string of injuries. Is there any evidence the substation has anything to do with football injuries?

Of course not.

That’s the joke.

But when Shanahan’s car accident was announced and the injuries kept mounting, social media immediately went back to the bit. Reddit threads filled with comments joking that “the substation takes another,” while others wondered if the practice facility itself had become cursed.

When your coach gets hurt away from the facility and fans still find a way to blame the substation…

…you know the jokes have reached another level.

To be fair, this roster is still loaded with talent.

If San Francisco gets healthy by September, nobody will remember how ugly August looked.

NFL seasons aren’t won during training camp.

But they can certainly become much more difficult if key contributors can’t stay on the field.

For now, the 49ers are hoping this is simply one of those bizarre stretches where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.

Because if not…

The substation might have another undefeated season.

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