SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan took the blame for the car crash that left him with a concussion and other injuries, saying he took his eyes off the road to reach for his fallen cell phone before hitting another vehicle.Shanahan crashed into a 21-year-old woman driving in the other direction in Palo Alto on July 14 and was left with a concussion, broken ribs, a broken nose and broken left hand and stitches for a large cut above his right eye. Shanahan was briefly hospitalized following the crash and hasn’t been able to coach the team at the start of training camp. The other driver suffered minor injuries and did not need to be hospitalized.Shanahan spoke to a small group of reporters on Tuesday for the first time since the crash to explain what happened from his vantage point.“I was going 20 miles an hour,” Shanahan said. “I was not on my phone, but I dropped my phone, and it was stuck in my seats. It was on my lap, and it slid off, and I went down to look for it, and took my eyes off the road for two seconds, and as I was coming up, the air bags hit me in my face.”
Police filed no charges in the crash.Shanahan has been unable to run the team or practice since training camp started on Saturday with assistant Chris Foerster in charge with assistance from coordinators Raheem Morris, Klay Kubiak and Brant Boyer.
