Stepping it up on the road a priority
The 49ers’ month ahead is jam packed with business trips to start hawking their football worth.
Business needs to pick up.
Not only did they go 0-8 away from Levi’s Stadium last season, the 49ers have lost every away game before December in each season since 2014.
They landed Wednesday night in Denver for the first leg of a season’s worth of travel. Ultimate destination: South Florida, for Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2.
If these traveling salesmen are bucking for a promotion to the playoffs, they must conquer the road, and the ensuing month is filled with hotel stays, charter flights and smelly suitcases.
“We talk about it a lot, just so they’re aware of it, because if you don’t, eventually they’re going to wake up one day and say, ‘ What the hell is going on?’ “coach Kyle Shanahan said just before leaving the 49ers facility after Wednesday’s practice.
Their traveling itinerary the next month:
• Denver, Wednesday night through Monday night. Practices are today and Saturday against
the Broncos at their facility, leading into Monday night’s exhibition.
• Kansas City, Aug. 2324: The third exhibition typically serves as the best dress rehearsal for the season. For Jimmy Garoppolo, it could be an emotional return to the Arrowhead Stadium turf where he injured his left knee 11 months ago.
• Tampa, Sept. 6-8: No work day this season is more important than their Sept. 8 regular- season opener against the Buccaneers. With a 4 p.m. local kickoff, thunderstorms might be more predictable than any Kyle Shanahan play call.
• Youngstown (Ohio) Sept. 8-13: They’ll fly after the opener to Youngstown, Ohio, reprising their 2011 and ’12 layovers in the York ownership’s hometown. Practices at Youngstown State are expected Wednesday through Friday.
• Cincinnati, Sept. 13-15: After a quick flight south and two final hotel nights, the 49ers visit the Bengals, then it’s back to the Bay. A 2- 0 start is definitely possible, if they shake their road history.
Shanahan said it will be “weird” playing their final three exhibitions over an 11- day span, so he’s showing his players what is on the docket this month.
“That’s one of the biggest things in camp: it’s not just focusing on football, it’s about focusing on how to balance all the stuff out,” Shanahan said. “They are aware of it. It is what it is, so you’ve got to make the best of it and our guys are pretty mature with that.”
What he’s not doing is foreshadowing what travel issues they’ll face come the regular season, when this roster is cut from 90 to 53 players.
“I mean, we know that we’re starting on the road,” Shanahan said. “We know that we are going to the East Coast on both of those games. We also know that it’s a lot more humid out there than it is here.
“It’s stuff we talk about, but it’s not stuff that you can worry about too much right now. We’ll deal with that when our preparation will help us.”