49ers’ Reporting of Christian McCaffrey’s Injury vs. Jets Did Not Violate NFL Rules

Zach BacharContributor ISeptember 13, 2024

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The San Francisco 49ers didn’t violate the NFL’s rules regarding the injury status of star running back Christian McCaffrey in Week 1, the league announced on Friday.

“We have looked into the 49ers’ reporting of the playing status of Christian McCaffrey for the team’s Monday night game against the New York Jets,” the league said in a statement, via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. “We have found no evidence of a violation of the league’s Injury Report Policy in this matter.”

McCaffrey was revealed as inactive for the 49ers’ clash with the New York Jets mere hours before kickoff. After the game, backup Jordan Mason said that he learned he was starting on Friday (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).

McCaffrey was initially listed as questionable due to calf and Achilles issues, participating in practice on a limited basis throughout the week leading up to the game.

Despite Mason’s comments after the win, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan claimed that he never told the running back that he was in line to start.

“I never told Jordan he was gonna start,” Shanahan told reporters (h/t Florio). “Told him he had to be ready a bunch. But it might have been [running backs coach] Bobby [Turner] or somebody trying to pump him up. But I knew he was gonna have to play a lot. Told him that it wasn’t gonna be like usual.”

NFL @NFLJordan Mason tonight:

29 touches
152 yards from scrimmage
1 touchdown pic.twitter.com/I15yMNUnVS

As for McCaffrey, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year has already been declared out for San Francisco’s Week 2 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. Shanahan revealed that the team is considering placing him on injured reserve (per Pelissero). If McCaffrey lands on IR, he’ll be sidelined for at least four games.

It’s not unheard of for the NFL to penalize teams for injury report violations, as the Atlanta Falcons and former head coach Arthur Smith were fined $75,000 and $25,000, respectively, for failing to disclose the status of running back Bijan Robinson in Week 7 of the 2023 season.

The league also investigated the Cincinnati Bengals regarding the injury report status of quarterback Joe Burrow in Nov. 2023, although no fines were levied.

With McCaffrey out, Mason will have another large workload for the 49ers after rushing for a career-high 147 yards in Week 1.