All hell is breaking in the San Francisco 49ers side of football right now and this might not be the best day for Kyle Shanahan. It started with Deebo Samuel’s trade rumors, then came problems with Brandon Aiyuk, and now the team is parting ways with their Head of Player Health and Performance, Ben Peterson. He’s been overseeing athletes’ training, nutrition, and other needs since 2019, but not anymore.

Tom Pelissero broke the news that the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA have decided to pick Peterson up as their VP of Player Health and Performance. This is a huge deal for both 49ers and the Hawks and the former seems to be having an upper hand. Per Pelissoro, during Peterson’s tenure, the 49ers’ injury rates plummeted significantly as their 2018 season was filled with injured players.

Pelissero took to X and pointed out, “The Atlanta Hawks are hiring #49ers head of player health & performance Ben Peterson as VP of Player Health and Performance, per sources. Peterson was well-regarded in SF. He oversaw athletic training, functional performance, nutrition and strength & conditioning since 2019.”

Per Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, “Peterson was a key 49er figure very trusted by Shanahan and Lynch,” and he’s also worked with NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and now he is going to the NBA. This is a huge loss for the San Francisco 49ers and there’s no news about his replacement as of yet.

The aftermath of the 2018 injury-riddled season was visible in the 2019 OTAs when the Niners had 18 players missing the camp after sustaining serious injuries. Some of those names were Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Bosa, and Raheem Mostert.

Bosa missed the training camp due to a hamstring injury, Jimmy Garoppolo took 20 snaps in the training program because the Niners wanted to be precautionary about his torn ACL that he sustained in week 4 of the 2018 season and Mostert didn’t practice because he sustained a fractured forearm in the week 9 game against the Raiders in the 2018 season and the list goes on.

Running backs Jerick McKinnon and Matt Breida had a torn ACL that ended his 2018 season and Breida suffered a partially torn pectoral muscle in the weight training room. But there are a few more things about the 49ers’ long-lasting stint with injured players.

The one thing that hasn’t changed for Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers

For the past 8 seasons, the San Francisco team has been dealing with catastrophes. They ranked within the top 10 in injuries within the described time frame. In the 2018 season, the team ranked 4 in terms of injured players, and in 2019, they ranked 6. Even more shocking is the fact that the team ranked first in 2020 in terms of injuries.

One of the reasons behind such an injury-laden roster is the 49ers’ disposition toward hiring players with injury history. For example, the team signed Kwon Alexander for a 4-year $54 million deal and he just played two seasons with the team (2019 and 2020). Before he joined the Niners in 2019, he was coming off a hamstring injury he sustained in 2017, then he suffered a grade 3 ACL tear in 2019, and also suffered a bicep tear in 2020 along with a pedal ankle sprain and an Achilles tear in the same year. The LB played 14 games in 2 seasons.

Another example of this trend is Dee Ford, who has a history of head concussions, lower back lumber sprains, hamstring strains and all kinds of muscle spasms. He’s still with the 49ers to this day. The team signed him for 5-year $85.5 million deal in 2019. He played just 18 games in 3 seasons and the 49ers decided to cut him soon after. But how long can they keep doing this, and most importantly, who will replace Ben Peterson?

Per Pelissero’s speculation on X, “Dustin Little is the head trainer. Dustin Perry is the head strength coach. Both reported to Peterson. The 49ers can promote from within, or they can hire another outsider to keep the departments working cohesively.”

However, the journalist also noted that Peterson’s replacement does not need to have a football background considering how Peterson has gone from NHL to NFL to NBA now. It sure is important to have a health and performance coach, and it anyone needs one, its the 49ers and there’s enough empirical data to prove it.