Christian McCaffrey 49ers Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) watches from the sideline due to injury during the second quarter against the New York Jets at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The San Francisco 49ers easily defeated the New York Jets on Monday night. San Francisco’s 32-19 victory got the season off on the right foot. The 49ers won the game without one of their star players, perhaps making the win even more impressive.

Christian McCaffrey became surprisingly inactive before the start of Monday night’s game. That decision shocked many before kickoff, but the 49ers handled their business anyway without the star running back.

On Wednesday, McCaffrey explained the decision.

“I prepare every week to play. My mindset every week is I’m going to play,” McCaffrey said via 49ersWebZone.com. 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 (on Monday), and it was a group decision, a very tough one.”

“I hate not playing, but I look at it as a chess move, something that, hopefully, we can benefit from the rest of the season,” he added.

McCaffrey hopes to suit up for San Francisco next week against the Vikings. He implied he’s going to make an effort to get on the field, so we’ll see if the cards are in his favor.

[49ersWebZone]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022