SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For the previous two-plus seasons, Jordan Mason has at all times appeared the a part of a beginning operating again. He simply hadn’t been capable of play it till Monday evening.
The wait may need been longer than Mason needed and are available about below less-than-ideal circumstances — changing an injured Christian McCaffrey — nevertheless it was clear within the season opener that Mason was greater than prepared for the job, as he and the Niners battered the New York Jets on the bottom in a 32-19 victory.
“I have been working all of coaching camp for this second, and I am blessed to have the ability to get to play at present and present it,” Mason mentioned.
By the point Mason was executed, he’d set profession highs with 28 carries for 147 yards. He added a dashing rating and caught a move for five extra yards. After the win, some had been left questioning when the Niners knew McCaffrey can be out and Mason can be in.
In an on-field interview with ESPN’s Lisa Salters, Mason steered he came upon “perhaps Friday evening” that he could possibly be in line for the beginning. Coach Kyle Shanahan supplied that no resolution was made on Friday and nothing was determined till Monday.
Regardless, Mason’s begin got here as a shock after McCaffrey was introduced as an inactive 90 minutes earlier than Monday evening’s kickoff at Levi’s Stadium due to lingering calf and Achilles accidents. Through the week, McCaffrey participated in all 4 Niners practices on a restricted foundation and was formally listed as questionable on Saturday’s closing harm report.
Regardless of all that, the expectation for McCaffrey was that he can be able to roll. McCaffrey mentioned Friday afternoon he had no doubts he would play towards the Jets and expressed hope he’d be in line for his ordinary heavy workload.
After the sport, Shanahan mentioned “it was a bit of an excessive amount of at present” for McCaffrey to have the ability to play, noting that San Francisco “thought it was going to be good to maintain him out.” Shanahan added that McCaffrey didn’t have a setback in observe.
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“It was on and off all through the week,” Shanahan mentioned. “He was capable of observe all through the week, simply it was at all times bothering him to a level. Typically, it goes away. Typically, it comes again. In the present day, it was bothering him a bit of an excessive amount of the place he did not be ok with it.”
McCaffrey’s harm mixed with the season-ending hamstring harm to Elijah Mitchell in coaching camp opened the door for Mason to ascend the depth chart, a chance he rapidly claimed with a robust camp that seemingly would have boosted him previous Mitchell anyway.
Mason’s coaching camp efficiency left the Niners assured he was able to step in and produce regardless of by no means having had greater than 11 carries, 69 yards or 27 offensive snaps in an NFL sport earlier than Monday evening.
His 28 carries towards the Jets had been probably the most in a regular-season sport by a Niner since Shanahan took over in 2017 and probably the most in a 49ers season opener in franchise historical past. His 147 yards had been the fourth-most dashing yards in a season opener by an undrafted participant all time and the second most by an undrafted participant on “Monday Evening Soccer.”
That manufacturing was no shock to these within the Niners locker room who’ve seen Mason develop from a 2022 undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech right into a participant who averaged 5.6 yards per carry in his earlier 33 NFL video games.
“Each time he touched the ball, in my recollection, he appeared like that,” left deal with Trent Williams mentioned. “He appeared like that tonight.
“I am certain he is grown up during the last couple years, nevertheless it’s not like I may see a evident gap. And he matured. He got here in fairly mature, and he was at all times prepared for his alternative. Even being third, fourth again, he was at all times prepared. And he got here in, closed plenty of video games for us and ran robust — and he earned everyone’s respect.”
Lots of Mason’s teammates, together with vast receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and fullback Kyle Juszczyk, mentioned they came upon Monday that Mason can be beginning for McCaffrey. Shanahan mentioned he and different coaches had informed Mason all through the week that he may need an even bigger function and to be prepared for it, however Shanahan did not inform Mason he was beginning for certain till Monday afternoon.
“We came upon he wasn’t taking part in at present,” Shanahan mentioned of McCaffrey, “and we do not understand how he’ll really feel tomorrow or the following day. I believed he was taking part in this entire week till at present.”
Relying on how the remainder of this week goes for McCaffrey, there could be no such thriller because the Niners put together for a visit to Minneapolis to play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. San Francisco’s subsequent two video games are on synthetic floor, which could possibly be a deterrent to having McCaffrey return immediately.
Shanahan mentioned it is too early to make any declarations on that now, as McCaffrey will once more be monitored because the week goes on.
“I am going to ask the participant how he is feeling,” Shanahan mentioned. “In the event that they really feel good they usually’re able to go, they’re able to go. If they are saying I really feel good on grass however not on turf, that is often a means of claiming that you do not actually really feel that good. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. See the following day. And we’ll see how he feels on Sunday.”
And if the Niners have to return to Mason, there will probably be no hesitation given what he did Monday evening.
“I believed he runs like he at all times does,” Shanahan mentioned. “If you get him the ball, he breaks tackles, often will get greater than we block for. Once we had the great lanes, he at all times hit them, and we received a bunch. However JP was superior at present.”
