Trading Brandon Aiyuk makes "no sense" for 49ers - Christian McCaffrey on Niners' Super Bowl chances

Christian McCaffrey on being on the Madden cover in the new cover athlete himself and here he is Christian mcaffrey Christian first of all thanks so much for taking the time the time with us today and what was your reaction when you found out that you were going to be on the cover of Madden 25 yeah I appreciate you guys having me I was fired up man it was uh you know a dream come true I've been playing Madden since I was you know a little kid I have three brothers and we would play Two on Two we would do all the different things you know we were we would play on the uh it was the N64 Madden 2001 we'd play with the Broncos and kind of throw it to my dad every play but it was just uh when I heard the news I was really honored I was just going to ask you whether you ever played with your dad of course at a longtime NFL wide receiver growing up now that your younger brother Luke is in the NFL if you're taking the controller which team are you playing with your own the 49ers or now the commanders I'm playing with the ners I'm playing with the ners for sure Luke will play with the commanders I'll play with the ners we'll probably have some good battles you were always a pretty special player but ever since you've gone to San Francisco it it seems to have gone to a different level what about Kyle Shanahan as a coach his offense has really made that combination of you and him taking you to a new level oh I think I think for me man I just being in those meetings is such a uh as a football nerd it's such a fun meeting room to be in because he teaches you the game from so many different Vantage points um he knows the defenses so well he knows exactly uh where certain guys are supposed to be and when and I think when you can take your knowledge of the game up you know levels and levels it kind of slows down for you and um another thing is just trust I mean I'm like I said I'm in those meeting rooms geeking out because um the the sophistication of what he knows about the game and how he teaches it to everybody uh there's never something to not learn there's never a dull moment in those meetings and uh then you get onto the field and you know your one goal to just do what he says your guy's quarterback in the last two years is is in many ways like taking the NFL by storm Mr Irrelevant now he's one of the best quarterbacks in football for the general public what about Brock pie do we not know that maybe doesn't fit The Narrative of system quarterback so to speak what does he do so well that we maybe don't give him enough credit for um I I think everyone knows everything about you know he's he's a great leader he's an unbelievable quarterback um if the play is there he makes it if it's not there he finds a way to make another one um and I think that's what makes him so special and uh you know I I got traded week six and I I didn't know anything but he was who I was running the plays with and you know spending after hours with and from those days on I knew he was going to be someone special and to hear how the defense talks about him and the problems that he you know brings to our own defense which is a damn good defense I knew from early on that he was going to be special and when he got in the game it was no shock to I think a lot of us that he was balling the way he was and he's done nothing but that since okay so NFC Championship game Super Bowl how do you guys in San Francisco get the monkey off the back so to speak what what's necessary for that final step to become Super Bowl champions score more points than the other team that's a fairly straightforward and simple way of putting it and also accurate Christian and that begins of course in week one as we are fortunate to have on our Airway Monday night football against the New York Jets I know that it's still about a month away but what are some of the thoughts that come to your mind when you begin your preparation for a defense that we know is going to be very good once again I think right now it's just um you know honing in on the fundamentals and details of our own offense and um taking it one day at a time I don't think uh I've always been a been a fan of just taking one meeting one snap one practice at a time and then you know when you get to the game Let it Loose um we have a long ways to go till game planning I think right now it's just you know getting back into training camp getting into the swing of things and um you know competing against their own defense for a while here before we get on to somebody else you know Christian many may think that that mindset you just described comes from your father but it's possible that the best athlete in your family is actually your mother Lisa who of course seemed to take the Dance Floor by storm at your wedding here what was your reaction as your mom is breaking it down like this that's nothing new that's about every day in the mcaffrey household i' I've seen those moves for for 28 years now so I'm glad the world got to see a little bit of it I tell you what one day the mcaffrey family just needs to have a talent show that would be a must event yeah the Olympics would also work very well for your family well uh certainly a great summer for you Christian mcaffrey now the Madden 25 cover athlete congrats and a great season ahead appreciate it guys thanks for having me stay healthy congrats and as Top 10 QBs promised we now have mes and Lewis rquest with us for the rest of the show and of course we now have our cover athlete established and the next thing that everybody is looking for Dan is quarterback ratings we're going to take you through the top 10 quarterbacks we begin with Kirk Cousins the new Falcons quarterback Dan who checks in at number 10 with a rating of 84 yeah field does so much good stuff I mean you talk about the ability to throw the football downfield I think that's something that Kirk has started to excel at at this point in his career also you have to love how Adept he is in the play action pass game one of the unique talents in that that we have in the NFL number nine is 49ers quarterback Brock pie 85 Brock he's such a fun player that's burst on to the NFL scene in the last two years so good when you Sports Center we have been following a development at Jets camp and it's all about who isn't there Ed rusher Hassan reic has officially requested a trade after Holding Out for a new contract he he was just acquired from the Eagles back in March the Jets say they are not trading him and will keep finding him if he does not show up here's coach Robert Salah I think as players we always first try and side with the player because you know what it's like to be a player um I actually I've played against San before I don't know him well I've had a couple messages with him I believe uh when he got uh when he got traded obviously we'd love for him to be here but uh you know we don't judge him for trying to do what's best for him I think what's best for him is to be a jet uh because this is going to be a fun ride I'm not going to elaborate any more than Joe did um you know it is what it is I'm going to focus on the guys who are here how do you avoid this being a disra it's not I promise you it's not you know it's a it's a great opportunity for the guys who are here you know we we love our D line we love our depth um especially at the DM position and guys like Will McDonald uh even Germaine Johnson uh T McKinley is getting a lot of run so is uh watts and McGregor and Clemens and uh Jaylen so we we've got a lot of really good depth at the defensive end position and they're all taking advantage of the extra opportunities that they're getting because of it not for nothing they would probably love that double digit sack production from redic Jeff dington back with us here on Sports Center Jeff what more can you share with us about where things stand between Assan reic and the Jets well it is a standoff and you talk about whether it's a distraction or not the most interesting component to this is that Hanan reic really has never even played a down not in mini camp or training camp for the New York Jets so how do you love something that you've never even had so the question here of course is how they proceed uh the Jets have made very clear publicly even so that they are not willing to trade Hassan reic despite his request for that trade I will say this there is one resolution here beyond the idea of the jet simply paying him which doesn't feel like it's going to happen unless reic reports to camp and that would be fin a trade Suitor and there are teams that are potentially interested in trading for him but they also just like that Brandon iuk situation would have to not only meet the trade demands they would have to also meet the contract demands because they would know unlike the Jets when they traded for him that it's better to get the deal done when the trade happens rather than after so many layers to The Saga and we're running out of time the Jets kicking off the season against the 49ers 27 days from right now in other news lions running back jir Gibbs leing practiced yesterday with a hamstring injury what are you hearing about the severity of it well quite frankly we're looking at a day-to-day situation right now with the hamstring injury we know how these things can be with players uh the lions are not saying that this is going to be any kind of long-term situation but no doubt just like we're dealing with Christian mcaffrey with his calf injury in San Francisco they're trying to be very cautious with him uh mcaffrey for instance says that he could play right now if it was a game but he's not going to play all the rest of the preseason we'll see if the Lions go that far with Gibs for right now simply dayto day with the hamstring injury Gibs over 1,200 yards from scrimmage 11 touchdowns in a breakout rookie season so elusive unlike that iguana that you caught in your toilet at the Darlington residence Jeff thank you hey gone iguana Hunter see you later by signing out thank je hey so JJ McCarthy injury mainly let's get back to our biggest story of the day though Vikings rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy will undergo Sur on a miniscus injury in his right knee and the procedure will determine how much time he'll actually miss after Saturday's preseason game he complained of some knee soreness underwent testing Kevin Seafort now tells us what the Vikings are going to do now until this week the Minnesota Vikings 2024 season was all about JJ McCarthy when he would get on the field and how he would play when he did now it's all about Sam darnold that's right the guy who lost starting jobs with the Jets and the Panthers and the 2023 season as a backup for the 49ers now has the Vikings Fate In His Hands but it's not as gloomy as it might sound Donald has looked increasingly impressive in training camp practices developing a rapport with Justin Jefferson especially on deep passes and Kevin oconnell told me today that darnold is earning the true confidence of coaches quote I'm really looking forward to Sam's continued growth and success in the offense oconnell said and I know his teammates and the rest of the coaching staff have really been enthused by what Sam's done my conf confidence level is really high okay well even before McCarthy's NFC North odds injury the Vikings were already a long shot to win the NFC North with plus 900 odds that was according to ESPN bet which is by far the longest odds in the division you've got the Lions as a slight favorite to win the division just ahead of the Packers speaking of those lines Sam they came out of nowhere to win the NFC North last season winning two in a row for the first time ever and it's going to be tough as all the teams have gotten better the Packers for one surely want to get back back on top of the division that they've won five times in the last decade coach mat laflor was asked if he has enough if he has a true number one receiver I get like I want to vomit every time I hear number one receiver to be honest with you it drives me crazy that's something that you guys talk about I feel like we got a bunch of them so I think the beauty of them is they're all capable of doing many things which gives us a lot of Versatility from an offensive perspective in terms of how we use these guys and employ their talents especially those those I would say top four guys for Outro B you at for for for for for for spe for to V fore fore see you guys you right can't for for for for for for for for