49ers voice concerns about Super Bowl practice field

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said league and independent inspectors have found the practice field set aside for the San Francisco 49ers is safe to use during Super Bowl week despite complaints from the team.

The Niners had expressed concern to the league that the field on UNLV’S campus is too soft but Goodell said the league has kept close tabs on it and cleared it for use. Sod was recently placed over the turf field on UNLV’S campus for the 49ers to use this week.

“We’ve had 23 experts out there. We had the union out there. All of them think it’s a very playable surface,” Goodell said Monday. “It’s softer than what they practiced on, but that happens. It’s well within all of our testing standards. It’s something we think all of our experts, as well as neutral field inspectors, have all said unanimously that it’s a playable field.”

The Kansas City Chiefs, as the designated home team, get to practice at the Las Vegas Raiders facility in nearby Henderson.

San Francisco held a walkthrough on the field Monday and won’t hold the first practice there until Wednesday.

COMMANDERS TAB KINGSBURY AS OC >>

Kliff Kingsbury is joining the Washington Commanders just in time for their latest search for a franchise quarterback.

The Commanders are hiring Kingsbury, the former Arizona Cardinals head coach, as their offensive coordinator and Joe Whitt Jr. as defensive coordinator, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because those deals had not been announced.

Kingsbury, 44, is the first addition to Dan Quinn’s staff since the former Dallas Cowboy defensive coordinator was named coach earlier in the weekend. He spent last season as an offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach at USC, coaching potential top pick Caleb Williams. Kingsbury succeeds Eric Bieniemy, who lasted just one season in Washington after leaving Kansas City. PRO BOWL RECAP >> The Pro Bowl Games were held Sunday in Orlando with NFC and AFC stars competing in a flag football game that gave fans and a national television audience glimpses of what the soon-to-be Olympic sport could look like with such highly skilled athletes on the field.

“It was cool. A little flag football. We didn’t really play hard when it was pads,” Chargers receiver Keenan Allen said. “It’s still football . ... You are out there running around with the guys who are the best talent in the NFL. It’s fun to be out there.”

The NFC defeated the AFC 64-59, with the final score determined by combining points from Sunday’s

game with those accumulated by each conference over two days of skills challenges.

This was the second year for a reimagined format that replaced the traditional Pro Bowl tackle football game, which waned in popularity over the past decade.

Players and an announced crowd of 55,709 seemed to enjoy what has become largely a made-fortv event.

“I think it was amazing,” said Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud. “People showed up and showed out and had a good time.”

Stroud had a chance to win it at the end, but his final pass of the game — intended for Allen, a six-time Pro Bowl selection with the Chargers, was broken up in the end zone. MAHOMES’ FATHER ARRESTED >> The father of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was arrested in East Texas on at least his third charge of driving while intoxicated, according to jail records. The legal issue comes as the younger Mahomes prepares to lead his team into the Super Bowl.

Patrick Mahomes Sr., 54, a former Major League Baseball pitcher, was arrested Saturday night in Tyler and his bond was set at $10,000. He was released on Sunday, according to jail records from Smith County, Texas. He was arrested on the same charge in 2019 and was sentenced to 40 days in jail, Smith County records show.