Make no mistake: tight end George Kittle values having running back Christian McCaffrey, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year, on the field. Unfortunately, the San Francisco 49ers didn't have that luxury on Monday night against the New York Jets.
Despite McCaffrey's absence, the 49ers thrived. Jordan Mason stepped up, delivering a standout performance with 147 rushing yards and a touchdown, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
When asked about the differences between McCaffrey and Mason, Kittle explained how the 49ers actually benefited from McCaffrey's absence.
"Like I told Christian, literally the only good thing that came out of him not playing is that our playbook shrinks just a little bit, which I'm always a fan of, the shrinking playbook," Kittle said after the 32-19 Week 1 victory. "Now, [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] can make all these awesome plays, and the cool thing about Christian is you can do all these things that no one else in the world can do.
"But we really just ran the most simple outside zone all day, whether it's a weak side run at [LT] Trent [Williams] or [RT] Colton [McKivitz], or you had two tight ends in there, and just running outside zone. And it worked really, really well, and I was happy for that."
Another advantage is learning that the 49ers can rest McCaffrey without stalling the offense. Mason's performance, which didn't surprise anyone in the 49ers' locker room, allows McCaffrey to conserve his energy for the long season ahead and take breaks as needed.
"And what JP (Mason) also does, he's just such a downhill runner, and he's a dense dude," Kittle continued. "Sturdy—that would be a good word for it. A dense, sturdy guy, and he just runs downhill very physically."
Kittle explains how the 49ers' playbook changes in CMC's absence pic.twitter.com/CmX8tV88N7
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) September 10, 2024
