Joe Burrow and Caleb Williams struggle, Lions beat Rams in overtime
Mackenzie Salmon of Sports Seriously “overreacts” to the biggest headlines of Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season.
Sport in Seriousness
The feel-good story of undrafted San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason unexpectedly stepping into the shoes of injured star Christian McCaffrey and leading his team to a resounding victory was perhaps a little too good to be true.
In an interview with ESPN reporter Lisa Salters after Monday night’s 32-19 win over the New York Jets, in which Mason set a personal record with 147 yards and scored a touchdown, he was asked when he knew he would be in McCaffrey’s place in the starting lineup.
“Maybe Friday, Friday night,” Mason said. “Something like that.”
The rest of America – including the Jets players and coaches – didn’t find out until just over an hour before game time, when the Niners officially declared McCaffrey unfit to play due to a calf injury.
After the game, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan dismissed Mason’s comments, saying the team still believed McCaffrey had a chance to play when he came out to warm up.
“Exactly the same stuff that’s been bothering him all week,” Shanahan told reporters after the game. “Today, it was a little too much, a mid-game decision. He came in, I just talked to him about it, but it was still there. I thought it was smart to leave him out and I’m glad we did that.”
When Mason was asked again during his post-game media briefing when he knew he would be in the starting lineup, his answer was significantly different from the one he gave on the field.
“This question here…” Mason said haltingly. “This is why I don’t like talking to the media, because you say one thing wrong and then… I don’t know. Just skip this question.”
NFL rules give teams a lot of leeway when it comes to determining a player’s injury status, but since the league has a lucrative business relationship with gambling and fantasy sports companies, this information should really be publicly available.
McCaffrey was listed as questionable on the Niners’ official injury report until he was declared unavailable for Monday night’s game.
Get to the heart of the news quickly with the USA TODAY app. Download award-winning reporting, crossword puzzles, audio storytelling, eNewspapers and more.
