Jordan Mason got stuck in the middle of the 49ers’ gamesmanship over Christian McCaffrey’s injury

Christian McCaffrey’s injury status turned Jordan Mason into an unfair target.

The San Francisco 49ers shocked the NFL by listing superstar running back Christian McCaffrey as inactive the team’s season opener against the New York Jets to cap Week 1 on Monday Night Football. McCaffrey had been listed on the injury report as questionable with Achilles and calf injuries, but it was widely assumed he was going to play. The next man up in the 49ers’ backfield was Jordan Mason, who turned in the game of his life in McCaffrey’s absence.

The Niners beat the Jets, 32-19, in a performance that reminded the country who the most talented team in the NFC is once again. San Francisco looked phenomenal even without McCaffrey available, and that’s because Mason stepped up in the biggest opportunity of his short career.

Mason finished with 147 yards rushing on 28 carries with one touchdown. Undrafted out of Georgia Tech in 2022, he signed with the Niners and slowly worked his way up the depth chart to become McCaffrey’s primary backup entering the year. This should be a heartwarming story of an underdog shining on a big stage, but instead after the game, all the talk was about when Mason learned he would be starting.

In the immediate aftermath on the field, Mason told reporters after the game he learned he was starting on Friday. When asked about that after the game, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that wasn’t true. When reporters asked Mason to clarify his answer again in his postgame press conference, he got upset and asked if he could go to the next question. Watch the video here:

This isn’t the case of the media being “out to get” Mason, though it’s understandable he feels that way even if he’s wrong. This is Shanahan and the 49ers doing “gamesmanship” so the Jets prepared to face McCaffrey all week despite San Francisco knowing he wasn’t going to play. Unfortunately, Mason is the collateral damage in the team’s attempt to gain an edge, and now he comes out looking bad after the game of his life.

Here were Shanahan’s comments after the game:

The NFL mandates that teams provide accurate reports on injury players to the league office, opponents and media leading up to each game. What the Niners tried to do by reporting McCaffrey’s status late is what every team tries to do to gain an edge. The league wants full transparency, especially when there’s so much money flowing through gambling and fantasy football these days. Many fantasy owners got caught surprised by McCaffrey’s status, and didn’t have time to find a replacement.

It’s just unfortunate that this is the big topic to come out of the game when it should be Mason’s stellar performance. We’ll update this story if the 49ers are disciplined.