49ers’ Christian McCaffrey: ‘My mentality is that I’m playing this week’

SANTA CLARA — Less than a week ago, 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey stood before reporters and with clipped answers said he expected to play against the New York Jets.

McCaffrey met the media again Wednesday and said the same thing about Sunday’s road game in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings.

“My mentality is that I’m playing this week,” McCaffrey said. “That’s where I’m at. That’s my mentality every week. I’m not lying. I think as a soon as a player says, `Maybe I’ll play, maybe I won’t’ that’s not a good mentality to go into the week with when you’re kind of on the fence. So for me, I’m ready to go.”

So there you have it. McCaffrey’s answer will almost always be he’s going to play because he knows no other way to approach it.

The end game as it pertains to facing Minnesota is less certain. McCaffrey was listed as limited in practice with a calf/Achilles injury, just as he was last week. The fact that he was limited — and not out — should be interpreted as good news, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.

“I’m not a doctor, but I’d take that as a positive,” Shanahan said.

And in case you happen to have drafted the NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year No. 1 on your fantasy team and are worried about it, Shanahan said a four-week stint on injured reserve to get McCaffrey completely healthy isn’t currently an option.

“I’ve never considered that,” Shanahan said. “I considered playing him last week, so definitely not thinking about four weeks off.”

The likelihood is that McCaffrey, Shanahan, general manager John Lynch and the medical staff will see how practice goes, then come to a decision later in the week about his availability for the Vikings. Maybe even on game day.

According to McCaffrey, that’s how it went down on Monday.

“There’s been weeks when I go the full week not even feeling good enough to do the walkthrough, but I wake up and my body’s capable of cool things,” McCaffrey said. “I woke up and it was a group decision. A very tough one. I hate not playing, but I look at it as a chess move and hopefully it’s something we can benefit from the rest of the season.”

While McCaffrey sustained a calf injury in Week 17 last season against Washington — he sat out a meaningless regular-season finale against the Rams before being listed on the injury report before the playoff game against Green Bay — he said the injuries are unrelated.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with last season, it’s just something I’m dealing with that I’ll get right,” McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey’s absence thrust Jordan Mason into the role of lead back, and the third-year player responded with 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown as the 49ers won 32-19. Rather than give Mason a pep talk after realizing he wouldn’t play, McCaffrey left him alone.

“I’m so proud of him,” McCaffrey said. “When you’re in a rhythm, in a groove, you let ’em be. And he showed that, and I was so pumped for him, and just everything that he’s done all camp. He’s earned that and it showed.”

From a different vantage point than usual, McCaffrey took in the 49ers’ crisp and efficient opening win and was impressed with what he saw.

“I thought it was awesome,” McCaffrey said. “Week 1, you’re always expecting a little bit of slop, but I thought the mindset was great. Obviously there’s always things to work on, but watching from the sideline, getting that perspective, I thought the intent was there. Obviously you hate sitting out, but to get a win and for the Niners to be 1-0 is a good thing.”

In other injury updates, defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) did not practice, nor did linebacker Dee Winters (ankle). Listed as limited for the light practice along with McCaffrey were safety Talanoa Hufanga (knee), guard Aaron Banks (finger/calf) and wide receiver Jauan Jennings (ankle).

Kittle loses bet with Purdy

A 20-19 win by Iowa State over Iowa meant tight end George Kittle had to meet the media wearing an Iowa State helmet.

Last season, when Iowa won, Purdy conducted a press conference wearing the a the head of the Hawkeye mascot.

A video of Purdy wildly celebrating the win of his alma mater was widely circulated Saturday on social media. Not long after that he made a phone call to Kittle.

“He texted me the score instantly,” Kittle said. “I said, ‘Thank you, Brock. You ruined my whole weekend.’ ”

George Kittle wearing Brock Purdy’s Iowa State helmet after Iowa’s loss Saturday pic.twitter.com/o8NG2wWQTT

— Cam Inman (@CamInman) September 11, 2024

Serious business

Left tackle Trent Williams, who missed all of training camp before signing a three-year, $82.66 million deal, said after the Jets win he was impressed with the “laser focus” of his teammates. Everyone was locked in, serious and obviously prepared.

Nick Bosa, who was a holdout last year, had a similar reaction.

“It’s funny because when I came in last year, I was talking to Trent how it was high-fives and hugs right when you walk in, and then everybody is, `All right, we’ve been here, we’re working. It’s work. It’s football,’ ” Bosa said. “That’s just how it is here and why we’re able to have a good team year in, year out.”

Linebacker Fred Warner said the mindset begins with veterans and filters through younger players.

“I think it happens organically when your guys who are your leaders are doing things the right way day in and day out,” Warner said. “My job is to make sure I’m doing things exactly the right way as consistently as I can, and the younger guys are going to see that and want to emulate that and make sure they’re not letting me or the rest of their teammates down.”

To Deebo Samuel, the approach this year is tied to the 49ers’ 25-22 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII.

“Especially coming off the Super Bowl loss, I think a lot of us used it as motivation to come in and put it behind us and not look back at what happened but move forward and control what we can day to day and week to week,” Samuel said.