McCaffrey debuts in 49ers loss after 'weird week'

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After their bold commercialized for moving backmost Christian McCaffrey precocious Thursday night, San Francisco 49ers wide manager John Lynch and manager Kyle Shanahan cautioned that portion the move was made with an oculus toward title aspirations, it wasn't going to single-handedly get them a Lombardi trophy.

On Friday afternoon, Lynch said McCaffrey wasn't a "magic pill," with Shanahan adding that McCaffrey is "not the lone happening we're missing." The connection was simple: McCaffrey tin connection important assistance, but for it each to work, others volition person to measurement up, too.

The 49ers received that memo large and wide Sunday day erstwhile the Kansas City Chiefs walloped them 44-23, dropping San Francisco to 3-4 connected the season.

On astir 48 hours of notice, McCaffrey was fixed a constricted workload, playing 21 snaps and finishing with 38 yards connected 8 carries and 2 catches for 24 yards. Given the deficiency of clip to sorb Shanahan's playbook, McCaffrey fared well, but the Niners turned the shot implicit 3 times, committed 10 penalties for 80 yards, were 2-of-5 successful the reddish portion and yielded 9.1 yards per play, the astir their defence has fixed up successful a crippled since 1965.

"He's not going to beryllium the savior, but he's decidedly going to assistance america out," choky extremity George Kittle said. "I deliberation these adjacent 2 weeks are going to beryllium immense for Christian to recognize our discourtesy and beryllium comfy retired determination not to deliberation astatine all, conscionable spell retired and tally due to the fact that that's what he's truly bully at. Like I said, penalties, turnovers, giving up large plays connected defence -- we've got to beryllium amended than that. We weren't today. That's however you suffer shot games."

McCaffrey arrived successful the Bay Area connected Friday greeting and joined the team's signifier that time astir halfway done aft passing a carnal truthful the commercialized could beryllium made official. At the time, cipher was definite whether he'd adjacent play against the Chiefs, but helium spent the remainder of Friday and each of Saturday moving to recognize arsenic overmuch of the discourtesy arsenic possible.

Shanahan and the Niners were comfy capable with what helium learned to enactment successful astir 20 plays for McCaffrey and marque him progressive arsenic the backup to starter Jeff Wilson Jr.

After Sunday's loss, McCaffrey credited his teammates and coaches for helping him get up to velocity rapidly capable to astatine slightest contribute.

"This was a weird week for maine and for them," McCaffrey said. "I didn't benignant of cognize what to expect. I cognize that I had a definite database of plays that were up and I deliberation for maine mentally this was conscionable absorption connected everything I can, power what I tin power and get rolling. Obviously, losing is frustrating, but I'm inactive getting to cognize these guys. I've got to bash my job. I've got to marque a fewer much plays here."

Offensively, the Niners had small occupation moving the shot whether McCaffrey was successful oregon not. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Niners averaged 5.6 yards per play erstwhile McCaffrey was connected the tract and 6.4 yards per play erstwhile helium wasn't.

The 49ers finished with 444 yards of offense, but they struggled to decorativeness drives with touchdowns alternatively of tract goals and couldn't support gait with Kansas City's high-octane offense. In the archetypal fractional alone, they moved the shot wrong the Chiefs' 35 5 times and came distant with lone 1 touchdown.

"We've got to play amended football," Shanahan said. "We had immoderate plays wherever I thought we had immoderate opportunities and we didn't bash well, particularly immoderate self-inflicted things, which I deliberation went successful each 3 phases. So, careless of the players we've added, we person bully players I believe, and I deliberation we added different one, but we've got to play amended to instrumentality vantage of that."

With the sprint to Sunday over, McCaffrey volition get his archetypal afloat week with the Niners to larn the playbook. Shanahan said 1 of the keys volition beryllium teaching him the protections truthful his relation tin expand. McCaffrey besides noted that overmuch of what helium indispensable fig retired is timing with his blockers successful the team's extracurricular portion dense tally scheme.

Before departing for his adjacent playbook survey session, McCaffrey made it wide that cipher is going to hold astir for him to drawback up.

"Football is football," McCaffrey said. "No 1 cares if I got present 2 days agone oregon if I've been present since April. If I'm retired determination with a azygous on, I expect to beryllium prepared, and I'm definite my teammates and coaches expect maine to beryllium prepared, too. You can't beryllium determination and marque excuses and say, 'I haven't had a batch of time.' You've got to get acceptable to go."