The San Francisco 49ers will not put any pressure on Christian McCaffrey to play in Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings after the star running back missed last night’s MNF win over the New York Jets.

McCaffrey’s absence from the game against the Jets due to calf/Achilles problems came as a surprise, as many rumors in the 49ers camp prior to the game had suggested he was fit.

Now he faces a race against time to see if he can be fit again by the weekend, with the artificial turf in Minneapolis another consideration.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said: “I’ll ask the player how he feels.

“If they feel good and are ready to go, then they are ready. If they say I feel good on grass but not on artificial turf, then that is usually a way of saying they don’t really feel good.

“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. We’ll see how he feels the next day. And we’ll see how he feels on Sunday.”

Regarding his absence last night, Shanahan added: “It’s been up and down all week.”

“He was able to train all week, but it always bothered him a little bit. Sometimes it goes away. Sometimes it comes back. Today it bothered him a little too much and he didn’t feel good about it.

“We found out he’s not playing today. And we don’t know how he’ll feel tomorrow or the day after. Until today, I thought he would play all week.”

Victory wreath AND the #SCtop10 Chain 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/cuc0antuvM

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) 10 September 2024

Wonderful Mason

Given the performance of his backup Jordan Mason in the 32-19 win over the Jets, the 49ers may be more relaxed about McCaffrey’s status.

Mason managed 28 runs for 147 yards and a touchdown, the Niners dominated the field.

Shanahan was impressed by the 25-year-old’s impact.

“I thought he ran like he always does,” Shanahan said. “When you give him the ball, he breaks tackles and usually gets more than we block. When we had the good lanes, he always hit them and we got a lot done. But JP was great today.”