On July 14, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was in a car accident that left him with serious injuries, including over 40 stitches, a broken nose, a concussion, and more. While that alone is big news, there’s been speculation that there may be more at play here, since news outlets didn’t report it until July 25.
In the wake of this speculation, 49ers insider David Lombardi has come to the defense of Shanahan.
Questions Continue Over 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan’s Accident
According to the New York Post, dispatch audio has been recovered from the accident Shanahan was in, and it mentioned: “There are reports of one driver bleeding from the head.”
Additionally, law enforcement officials ruled out any possible impairment.
“There is no impairment suspected, and both drivers remained on scene and were cooperative with the police,” Palo Alto Police Dept. spokesperson Lt. Nicolas Martinez said in a statement to The Post this weekend.
“No one was cited for the collision. There will be no information released regarding the cause of the collision or who was at fault.”
Even with that news, though, some are wondering if there’s more at play.
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To start, Lombardi shared a video of NBC NFL analyst Chris Simms discussing what happened. He and Shanahan are friends, and he mentioned both of them were recently in the South of France. He said he got a text from Shanahan’s wife alerting him to the accident and showing him pictures.
Simms shared that Shanahan nearly lost one of his eyes as a result of the accident.
Shanahan nearly lost his eye in an accident that traumatized him and his family, yet we still have no-name clowns acting as if they’re entitled to all info on their schedule.
Lesson: Social media has given a megaphone to people who shouldn’t have one pic.twitter.com/3UiMf4CBPa
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) July 27, 2026
In response to Lombardi posting that video, Jarrett Bailey, an NFL writer for SB Nation, had this to say: “If anyone were to have reported that Kyle Shanahan was in an accident when it happened, no one would have looked at it as anything other than a reporter doing their job.
“I seem to remember when Ricky Pearsall got shot, we all knew about it pretty quickly, not 10 days later.”
Then, in a quoted message, Lombardi shot back, “Absolutely moronic comparison between a criminal matter and a non-criminal matter. Good job man, maybe take a step back and think.”
Absolutely moronic comparison between a criminal matter and a non-criminal matter. Good job man, maybe take a step back and think https://t.co/IS4N2hjptB
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) July 27, 2026
Now the question remains: Is there something bigger at play here as to why this news wasn’t reported for 11 days? Or could it just be that the reporters who maybe knew between the time of the accident and release wanted to allow for privacy, as this was a medical issue?
We do know, though, as ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported, that Shanahan was recently able to watch a little bit of practice with general manager John Lynch.
Either way, if Shanahan were somehow unable to coach, this would seriously impact a 49ers team that was fourth in PFSN’s Offense Impact metric last season.
