Christian mcaffrey thought he'd be ready to go for the 49 Ur season opener but a last minute decision kept him on the sidelines so what really happened today we dive into this surprising move McCaffrey's mindset and the injury that's been keeping him off the field is this a minor setback or something bigger stay tuned to find out two days after unexpectedly being inactive for the 49ers Monday night season opener running back Christian and mcaffrey explained how the decision to sideline him was made and why he was so certain on Friday that he'd be ready to play during a media session before Wednesday's practice mcaffrey credited his confidence in playing last week to the mindset he feels is essential in those circumstances my mindset every week is I'm going to play mcaffrey said there's been weeks where I'll go the full week not even feeling good enough to do the walkth through and then I wake up and the body's capable of a lot of cool things mentally I'm always prepared to play and then 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 something that hopefully you can benefit from the rest of the season mcaffrey missed the game against the New York Jets due to ongoing calf and achilles problems on Tuesday coach Kyle Shanahan clarified that the main issue from ma Caffrey has been Achilles tendinitis which fluctuates in intensity Wednesday sh Shanahan was asked whether there was any thought given to shutting mcaffrey down and placing him on injured reserve Shanahan quickly shot that idea down no I've never considered that Shanahan said we considered that he would play last week so definitely not thinking about four weeks off with the 49 hers having played on Monday night they have less time to recover and prepare for Sunday's game against the Vikings in Minnesota Wednesday's practice this was planned to be lighter and mcaffrey is once again expected to have limited participation McCaffrey's injury initially surfaced as a calf issue when Shanahan mentioned it on August 6th however it wasn't until last week when teams had to submit an official injury report that the Achilles problem was disclosed mcaffrey participated in practice on a limited basis throughout the week and on Friday he expressed confidence that he would play against the Jets even hoping to take on his usual heavy workload I think when you don't feel right in practice there's a difference between you don't feel right but maybe by Sunday you'll be good to go when you're working through some stuff and something's off mcaffrey said my mindset is I'm going to play no matter what I'm going through physically on Wednesday or Thursday practice and then the game day you've got to make a decision the calf injury is similar to the one mcaffrey had in a week 17 win against the Washington commanders last year but he said Wednesday that this one is not a remnant of that one McCaffrey's current calf injury is similar to the one he sustained in Weak 17's victory over the Washington commanders last year but he clarified on Wednesday that this is a separate issue and not a lingering effect from the previous injury it doesn't have anything to do with anything last season mcaffrey said it's just something I'm dealing with that I'll get right as for this week maccaffrey appears to be following a similar script as last week where there won't be any certainty on his status until closer to kickoff because the Vikings play on artificial surface there's been some question about how that might factor into the decision to play mcaffrey if he has his way it won't be a part of the discussion with mcaffrey saying if you can go you can go last season maccaffrey faced the Vikings on the road despite being listed as questionable and practicing only once on a limited basis due to an oblique injury he managed to record 96 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns and a 22 to 17 defeat if mcaffrey is unable to play this time Jordan Mason will step in for his second NFL start Mason filled in for mcaffrey against the Jets rushing 28 times for 147 yards at a touchdown mcaffrey expressed on Wednesday how proud he was of Mason for stepping up on such short notice still mcaffrey is unwavering in his belief that he is going to play even if an official decision we'll again have to wait until closer to Sunday's kickoff my mentality is I'm playing this week mcaffrey said that's where I'm at that's how I am every week I am not lying I think as soon as a player says maybe I'll play maybe I won't that's not a good mentality to go into a week with when you're kind of on the fence for me I'm ready to go thanks for watching