San Francisco 49ers

McCaffrey Fights to Find Form, Wouldn’t Mind Facing Another Blizzard

Posted on by newssite
Christian McCaffrey is deadly serious about his 9-to-5 job – head coach Kyle Shanahan calls him “a psycho in the best way possible” – but he loosens up with reporters when the topic isn’t tied to his NFL career. Last year, after a Thanksgiving Day win at Seattle, the San Francisco 49ers running back had a long, amusing breakdown of the postgame turkey and other holiday dishes that NBC provided for the game’s stars. And McCaffrey again veered from his tight-lipped interview approach Wednesday when asked about playing football in the snow as a kid in suburban Denver, a question inspired by the potentially wintry conditions facing the 49ers on Sunday night at Buffalo. “When I was 7, we had a ‘Super Bowl’ at the lower field at Regis Jesuit High School,” McCaffrey said. “It was a blizzard. And we beat Cherry Creek – the Cherry Creek Bruins – in double overtime on a last-second play.”
More For You 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen faces scrutiny over preparation Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen was asked Wednesday about why Fred Warner said the San…
49ers’ Fred Warner reveals he’s played for two months with a fractured ankle San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner has been playing on a fractured ankle for two… McCaffrey was just getting warmed up. Playing linebacker for the Parker Hawks – “Mike” linebacker, McCaffrey said – he secured the title by tipping a trick-play pass, a deflection that, in his memory, kicked off a wild celebration.
“It felt like you were playing in front of 70,000 – there were probably 12 people there,” McCaffrey said, laughing. “All the parents stormed the field. I actually remember crying at that game. I think that’s when I decided I wanted to play football.” The story of how McCaffrey’s unique passion for the game was ignited in 2003 helps explain his current frustration after his first three games in 2024. The 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year is averaging 3.5 yards on 43 carries – he averaged 5.4 per attempt last year – and hasn’t scored a touchdown after collecting a league-high 21 last season. His sluggish start has inspired questions about rust and his explosiveness after he missed the first eight games with bilateral Achilles tendinitis.
Last Sunday, after a 38-10 loss at Green Bay in which McCaffrey had 31 yards on 11 carries and lost a fumble, he sat forlornly for a long time at his locker sporting a thousand-yard stare. The scene prompted a reporter to ask Shanahan on Wednesday if he needed to check in on McCaffrey to make sure he’s “OK mentally.” “I think that’s what makes Christian great,” Shanahan said. “I’ve told you guys – he’s a psycho in the best way possible. Christian had a fumble there at the end of the game. No matter what I say to him, he is not going to forgive himself for a fumble for probably the rest of his life. That’s just how he rolls. “That’s his mindset in everything. You should see him in OTAs. If he drops the ball and how he acts after that – apologizing to us later in the day for a dropped ball in OTAs in period one. That’s what makes him great.”
It was notable this week that both Shanahan and McCaffrey acknowledged that McCaffrey has yet to recapture his past greatness after a nine-month layoff between games. Last week, for example, Shanahan said McCaffrey was doing a “good job” and attributed his performance in a loss to the Seahawks to a strong defensive game plan and a lack of large running lanes. On Wednesday, however, Shanahan struck a different note after McCaffrey averaged 2.8 yards per carry against Green Bay, the third-lowest of his 30-game career with the 49ers. “The speculation on Christian, I think, is a little bit unfair to him,” Shanahan said. “Christian’s playing very well – he is playing his ass off. But to think a guy who misses an entire offseason is just going to be the exact same the day he gets back would be unfair to any player in the world, I feel like.
“Guys who miss offseasons and miss training camp, usually it takes them a little bit of time at the beginning of the year to get back into how they were the year before, let alone missing half the season also on top of that. … To just think he’s coming back in Week 8 without being able to do anything for the last nine months. To think he’s just going to be in MVP form is a very unrealistic expectation.” For his part, McCaffrey discussed the need to manage his expectations and said he was excited because he felt, eventually, he will find his previous form. “I’m happy I’m out here playing football because I know I’ll get better,” McCaffrey said. “I know who I am. I just know with time, it’s going to start to come.” McCaffrey hopes it will happen Sunday at Buffalo, which will be under a winter-storm watch this weekend with heavy snowfall possible. Such conditions would bring back fond memories for a running back eager to create his first great memory of 2024. “I’m familiar with the snow, man,” McCaffrey said. “It will be a fun atmosphere.”

Posts in same category: