The San Francisco 49ers' win over the New York Jets in their season opener took a bizarre turn after backup running back Jordan Mason, who filled in for Christian McCaffrey, said that he was told he would be the starter days before the game.
McCaffrey was listed as questionable due to a calf injury and ruled out right before the game. Mason played really well, totaling 152 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, and said after the game that he was told he would start on Friday. Being asked about it again after the win frustrated him. Head coach Kyle Shanahan denied that he told Mason he was starting on Friday, though he left the possibility open that someone did.
The reactions from the football world expressed sympathy for Mason, whose stellar performance was swept under the rug. Even if he did misspeak, this situation is on the 49ers.
49ers making Christian McCaffrey late scratch overshadowed great game from Jordan Mason
Following the guidelines of injury designations and player statuses are important for the NFL. Fantasy football players will be fine and deserve little to no pity — I say this as a fantasy manager of two teams — but for the sake of being transparent with its viewers and protecting itself against betting with inside information, the league has procedures in place. The Niners waiting to rule CMC out right before the game, if they knew well ahead of time that he would be out, was an act of gamesmanship that breaks the league rules.
If Mason was told definitively on Friday that he would start on Monday, should he have kept that to himself? For the benefit of his team, yes. But being privy to that information puts him in a spot he should not have been in. His frustration toward the media was more directed at the situation than the individual reporters. Media members asking him about that are simply doing their jobs, as being told days before the game that he would start suggests the Niners were acting in bad faith when it came to McCaffrey's status.
McCaffrey's status for Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings doesn’t look promising right now. The 49ers will once again have to lean on Mason — and this time, they probably won’t be able to hide it.
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