San Francisco 49ers safety Tashaun Gipson (31) takes a break while practicing during the Super Bowl bye week at the 49ers practice facility in Santa Clara, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
LAS VEGAS — The 49ers are reportedly unhappy with the condition of their practice field at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas according to multiple reports.
An advance group that arrived before the 49ers including equipment workers and a grounds crew determined that the fields were too soft. The fields at UNLV are artificial turf, but were covered with a grass overlay for the 49ers to practice on. The Kansas City Chiefs are using the Raiders’ practice facility in Henderson, Nevada, for their practice needs.
Both the 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs arrived in Las Vegas Sunday, a week in advance of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium.
Members of the 49ers were not available for comment. They were scheduled to hold a walkthrough practice at UNLV Monday afternoon.
According to ESPN, the NFL requires its fields to be below 100 units of gravity on a “Clegg” test, which measures a field’s firmness. The UNLV measures in the 50s, with the lowest allowable score at 70.
According to CBS Sports, which first reported the story, the 49ers have three options.
The 49ers could either use the fields as scheduled, have new firmer sod brought in that would be ready this week, or negotiate with the NFL to also use the Raiders facility, which is big enough for both teams to use.
Check back for more on this breaking story . . .
Originally published at Jerry McDonald