David Gonzales-Imagn-Images

The San Francisco 49ers were without reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey on Monday night, but his absence didn’t slow the team down. The Niners defeated the New York Jets 32-19 in their season opener.

Before the game, there were reports that McCaffrey would miss Week 1. ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that the star running back could also be sidelined for the 49ers’ Week 2 game against the Minnesota Vikings.

“Not only is Christian McCaffrey out tonight, but there’s a real chance he won’t play on Sunday,” Schefter said, via Kyle Madson of Niners Wire. “They play away at Minnesota on grass on a shortened week. So, he’s out tonight and it seems like there’s a real chance McCaffrey won’t play on Sunday against the Vikings.”

This speculation surprised head coach Kyle Shanahan.

“That’s awesome,” Shanahan joked. “That person has to be God, because we just found out he didn’t play today, and I have no idea how he’s going to feel tomorrow or the next day. I thought he was going to play all week until today, so I don’t know who knows he might not play next week.”

When asked about McCaffrey’s injury, Shanahan explained: “Same thing he’s been dealing with all week. There was a little too much today, a decision at the time of the game. He came in, just talked to him about it, it was still there. Thought it would be smart to keep him out, and glad we did.”

McCaffrey appeared optimistic about his play earlier in the week, but was asked if he might have had a setback.

“No, he didn’t have any setbacks,” Shanahan said. “I mean, it was on and off all week. He was able to practice all week. It always bothered him to some degree, and sometimes it went away, sometimes it came back. And today it bothered him a little bit too much, and we didn’t feel good about it.”

Shanahan acknowledged there were concerns McCaffrey’s injury would linger, especially since it had bothered him throughout training camp.

“But it’s getting better and hopefully next week it will be better again,” Shanahan added.

In McCaffrey’s absence, Jordan Mason stepped up and ran for 147 yards. In a postgame interview with ESPN, Mason said he was told he might start Friday night.

“I never told Jordan he was going to start,” Shanahan said. “I told him he had to be ready a lot, but that could have been (RB coach) Bobby (Turner) or someone trying to get him fired up. But I knew he was going to have to play a lot. I told him it wasn’t going to be like normal. He was going to be a No. 2 back who splits time a lot. But no, he didn’t know for sure that he was going to do that until today.”

Mason was visibly frustrated when asked to confirm when he would hear he would start against the Jets.

“That question is exactly why I don’t like talking to the media,” Mason replied, “because you say one thing wrong and then… I don’t know. Just skip that question.”