49ers' Christian McCaffrey (calf) surprise inactive vs. Jets - ESPN
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Christian McCaffrey to miss 49ers' opener due to calf injury (0:55)
Adam Schefter reports on the 49ers listing Christian McCaffrey as inactive for the season-opening matchup with the Jets on "Monday Night Football." (0:55)
Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterSep 10, 2024, 09:13 AM
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Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN's coverage of the Niners' 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick's protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam's subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team's relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagonerSANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After declaring Friday that he had no doubt he would play, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is out for Monday night's opener against the New York Jets.
McCaffrey has dealt with a calf and Achilles injury since the early days of training camp, with coach Kyle Shanahan announcing the ailments on Aug. 6. Shanahan said then that McCaffrey would be out for a couple of weeks and not participate in the preseason. The expectation, though, was that McCaffrey would be able to get back in time for Monday's game.
On Friday, McCaffrey even said he was hopeful he would get his usual heavy workload. And general manager John Lynch told KNBR radio Friday morning that McCaffrey would "be out there and ready to roll." But even after participating on a limited basis in four practices this week, McCaffrey was ruled out against the Jets about 90 minutes before the game as one of their six inactives (plus the emergency third quarterback). The Niners listed McCaffrey as questionable against the Jets even after teammates and coaches had expressed optimism about his chances to play and contribute something close to his usual level.
"He looks like Christian to me," run game coordinator Chris Foerster said Friday. "You need to practice, so the guys who haven't practiced, I don't want to say there's rust, but there's always a little something that goes on just because they haven't been doing it every day. There's just that grind of every day, day after day. But he's looked good."
McCaffrey dealt with a similar injury at the end of last season. He suffered that one in a Week 17 win against the Washington Commanders then did not play in a meaningless Week 18 game versus the Los Angeles Rams. He returned for the NFC divisional round against the Green Bay Packers about three weeks after that initial injury. Shanahan said Saturday the injury McCaffrey has been dealing with is similar to that one.
Before he returned to practice Tuesday, McCaffrey seemed to be moving around well during practice, and he said he felt "much better" when speaking to reporters on Friday.
McCaffrey is the NFL's reigning Offensive Player of the Year after posting 1,459 rushing yards, 564 receiving yards and 21 total touchdowns in 2023.
Without McCaffrey, Jordan Mason is expected to start at running back. This would be Mason's first career start after averaging 5.6 yards per carry in 33 career games. The former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech has never had more than 69 rushing yards, 11 carries or 27 snaps in a game.
Veteran Patrick Taylor Jr. and rookie Isaac Guerendo are the team's other active running backs Monday night.
Elijah Mitchell, the team's backup running back last season, is on injured reserve and out for the year with a hamstring injury.
