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49ers RB Christian McCaffrey is Inactive vs. the New York Jets

It will be interesting to see how a creative offensive coach such as Kyle Shanahan works around not having McCaffrey on the field. A truly creative coach should not be fazed.

Grant Cohn

Jul 25, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey answers questions at a press conference following Day 3 of training camp at SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
Jul 25, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey answers questions at a press conference following Day 3 of training camp at SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
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SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just made a smart but difficult decision.

Christian McCaffrey is inactive for the 49ers' season opener against the New York Jets because he has a strained calf/Achilles. A few days ago, both McCaffrey and general manager John Lynch said McCaffrey would be healthy enough to play in this game. But the team listed him as questionable, which means he was a game-time decision. And apparently, he's not ready to play.

Good for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. He made the right decision. He easily could have pushed McCaffrey to play in this game, but he didn't. And he didn't have to, because the 49ers should be able to win without McCaffrey.

They still should be able to run the ball well, because they have Jordan Mason, who was one of their MVPs of the offseason, plus they have Deebo Samuel who can play running back as well.

The 49ers also should be able to pass the ball well, because they still have Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Samuel. Those are lots of weapons.

McCaffrey's absence will be a great test for Brock Purdy who never has played a game without him. It will be interesting to see if Purdy can play like a franchise quarterback when the reigning Offensive Player of the Year is out.

It also will be interesting to see how a creative offensive coach such as Kyle Shanahan works around not having McCaffrey on the field. A truly creative coach should not be fazed.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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