All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey is getting ready for practice this week with the plan to play for the San Francisco 49ers, even though he is still dealing with a sore calf and Achilles tendon that kept him out of the first game.
McCaffrey was listed as limited in practice on Wednesday as the 49ers prepared for their game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
“My mentality is I’m playing this week and that’s where I’m at,” McCaffrey said. “That’s how I am every week. I’m not lying. I think as soon as a player says, ‘Maybe I’ll play, maybe I won’t,’ that’s not a good mentality to go into a week with when you’re kind of on the fence.”
McCaffrey waited until game day to decide about playing in the opener, even though he had been limited in practice all week after missing the last four weeks of training camp due to the injury.
When he woke up on Monday and still didn’t feel right, the decision was made to keep him out of the game. McCaffrey mentioned that the process this week will likely be similar, and the fact that the game will be played on artificial turf doesn’t change that.
“It was a group decision, a very tough one,” he said. “I hate not playing, but I look at it as a chess move, something that hopefully you can benefit from the rest of the season.”
The 49ers managed well without McCaffrey thanks to a strong game from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 win over the New York Jets.
Mason, who had only 83 carries in his first two NFL seasons, had the most rushing attempts in a regular-season game for the 49ers since Frank Gore had 31 in 2011 against Cleveland.
McCaffrey said he had little to advise Mason during the game and just enjoyed watching him play.
“When you’re in a rhythm and you’re in a groove, you let him be,” McCaffrey said. “He showed that man. I was so pumped for him, just everything that he’s done all camp. He’s earned that. He’s balled out and it showed.”
Mason started his career as an undrafted free agent after having only 87 carries in his last season at Georgia Tech, where he played behind Jahmyr Gibbs, a future first-round pick.
The 49ers decided to sign him, but Mason had a hard time gaining the trust of the demanding running backs coach Bobby Turner and only got a few chances to play.
“Jordan has always had a ton of confidence, since the first day he got here,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “The most part is getting used to Bobby coaching him.
Realizing that he is not always angry, he just kind of stays that way and kind of learns to appreciate it. I think Jordan has really pushed himself, each year, with the way he’s worked off the field.”
That hard work paid off on Monday night when Mason’s tough running style was too much for the Jets to handle.
He broke 13 tackles, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, which was five more than any other player in Week 1 and was only exceeded twice all of last season.
Even though he faced stacked defenses on half of his rushing attempts, Mason had great success and showed he can handle more responsibility, even when McCaffrey is healthy.
“What (Jordan) also does is he’s just such a downhill runner and he’s a dense dude, sturdy, that’d be a good word for it,” All-Pro tight end George Kittle said.
“He’s a dense, sturdy guy and he just runs downhill very physically. … Hopefully he can just keep doing that and there’ll be a very good substitute for Christian so we don’t have to play Christian for a hundred snaps a game.”
