Christian McCaffrey elaborated Wednesday on the “group decision” for him to sit out Monday’s season opener vs. the Jets, with the 49ers running back illustrating a timeline amid confusion over his injury status.
“My mindset every week is I’m going to play,” McCaffrey said Wednesday, according to ESPN. “There’s been weeks where I’ll go the full week, not even feeling good enough to do the walkthrough, and then I wake up and the body’s capable of a lot of cool things. Mentally, I’m always prepared to play, and then woke up and it was a group decision, a very tough one. I hate not playing, but I look at it as a chess move and something that hopefully you can benefit from the rest of the season.”
McCaffrey, who dealt with a lingering calf issue this offseason, was ruled inactive before kickoff, with backup Jordan Mason rushing for 147 yards in the 49ers’ 32-19 home victory over the Jets.
Drama ensued postgame when Mason said he learned of his starting role Friday, raising eyebrows about whether McCaffrey’s injury had been concealed.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan denied the remarks and told Mason “he had to be ready a bunch, but it might’ve been Bobby [Turner] or somebody trying to pump him up.”
Shanahan also spoke about how McCaffrey is grappling with Achilles tendinitis, noting the condition “comes and goes” in terms of the intensity.
“It’s not just the calf, it’s the Achilles, and the Achilles is tendinitis, and that stuff comes and goes. And when it is acting up it’s something you’ve got to be very careful about,” Shanahan said, per Pro Football Talk.
“Christian is very diligent about that stuff. If it was a playoff game, he made it very clear to me he believed he could go. But when you hear that type of stuff, and it’s not a playoff game, and it’s Week 1, especially when you’re dealing with the lower extremities like that, it was a tough decision, but hearing all the words and stuff, in the long run it made it easy.”
Shanahan, whose 49ers are a season removed from a Super Bowl appearance, said he “never considered” placing the reigning Offensive Player of the Year on injured reserve.
Described as the “inflammation of the tissue that connects your calf muscle to your heel (Achilles tendon),” the Cleveland Clinic notes an Achilles tendon rupture as a potential complication without rest or treatment.
With a trip to Minnesota looming for Week 2, it remains to be seen if McCaffrey — a limited participant in practice Wednesday — will get the green light for Sunday.
“My mentality is I’m playing this week, that’s where I’m at,” he said.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday “that it feels like a long shot” for McCaffrey to play Sunday.
