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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers guard Aaron Banks was minutes into an early training camp interview session when he was asked about a costly mistake by the offensive line late in Super Bowl LVIII.
Tension lingered in the air for about five seconds before Banks mumbled a response.
“Sore subject,” Banks said.
A few more seconds went by before Banks arrived at a non-answer, choosing to pass on responding and scanning the room for any other question.
Here he was, 169 days after the 49ers’ overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and it appeared it was still too soon to relive the latest in the Niners’ expanding list of difficult postseason defeats.
Such is the cloud that looms over all things 49ers as they prepare to open the 2024 season Monday night against the New York Jets (8:15 ET, ESPN/ABC/ESPN+) and take another shot at winning the franchise’s sixth Lombardi Trophy.
Losing on the biggest stage leads to concerns about a Super Bowl hangover. The pain of climbing the postseason mountain again cuts deeper because of the four misses in the past five seasons.
It’s the blown fourth-quarter Super Bowl leads to the Chiefs in Las Vegas this past February, as well as in Miami after the 2019 season. It’s a dropped interception in the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams in January 2022. It’s quarterback Brock Purdy’s devastating right elbow injury early in…
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