For nearly a decade, injuries have repeatedly shaped the San Francisco 49ers’ seasons. But what if the bigger question isn’t who got hurt, but why the problem keeps returning? A look at what it might take to investigate injuries from every angle and address them systemically.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s back is hurting again. But what if the story didn’t start with his back? A 2025 left hamstring injury, repeated extreme stretches at first base and recurring lower-back symptoms raise a bigger question: are we treating where athletes hurt, or understanding why they hurt?

After more than 20 years working with athletes, I’ve learned that understanding an injury is only part of understanding the person. A reflection on how experience changed the questions I ask, the way I approach recovery, and what reconditioning means to me today.

Two hips. Two knees. Semyon Varlamov’s remarkable return after bilateral partial knee replacements raises a bigger question about the demands of modern goaltending. From hip surgery and motor control to accumulated trauma and thousands of butterfly repetitions, his story may offer an important lesson—not just for NHL goalies, but for how we develop young goalies in the first place.

Tyler Seguin has spent more than 15 years navigating injuries, surgeries and rehabilitation at the highest level of professional hockey. His latest ACL reconstruction raises a bigger question: when an athlete is medically cleared to return, how much of the original system has actually been restored? And in professional sport, is there really enough time to find out?

At 39, it is easy to say age is finally catching up with Novak Djokovic. But what if age is not the problem? What if it has simply reduced his ability to compensate for something that has been there all along? His history of gut symptoms, heat intolerance and sudden energy crashes raises a deeper question about the gut, brain and autonomic nervous system.

Why do so many people move through healthcare treating one symptom after another without ever understanding why the problem started? The issue may not be a lack of knowledge or good doctors. It may be a system that simply doesn’t provide the time, resources or financial incentive required to connect the dots.

George Kittle’s Achilles rupture didn’t happen in isolation. His injury history raises an important question: did the story begin years earlier with a right cuboid fracture and the compensations that followed?

Should childbirth be part of an athlete’s injury history? Faith Kipyegon’s story raises important questions about how pregnancy, C-section, pelvic changes, hormones and emotional stress may influence the body long after an athlete returns to performance.

Here is how my first season as the Hamilton Bulldogs Strength and Conditioning Coach and Assistant Athletic Therapist finished. Enjoy the read!