After 'weird week,' CMC impresses teammates in 49ers debut originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SANTA CLARA -- With barely two days to prepare, Christian McCaffrey impressed his new teammates in the 49ers’ 44-23 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.
The running back finished the day with 22 offensive snaps, carrying the ball eight times for 38 yards and adding two receptions for 24 yards. After the game, McCaffrey admitted it was a unique experience being traded to another team with very little time to prepare.
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“This was a weird week for me and for them," McCaffrey said. "I didn’t know what to expect. I know that I had a certain list of plays that were up and for me mentally, this was just focus on everything I can and control what I can control and get rolling.”
Kyle Shanahan shared that they gave McCaffrey a limited amount of plays to help lessen the stress of learning the entire playbook. The head coach was pleased with his running back's first showing.
“I thought he did a good job,” Shanahan said. “Impressive that he understood everything we were asking him to do. I don’t think he made any mistakes in the game and he made some pretty good plays too.”
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McCaffrey was on the field primarily in the first half. Only five of the running back’s 22 snaps were in the second half, but while the Stanford product was on the field, he showed what he is capable of both with the ball in his hand and without it.
Jimmy Garoppolo helped his new teammate as much as possible with a crash course during and after practice and thought McCaffrey did the best with the amount of preparation he was able to get in such a short amount of time.
“I thought he did a really good job today.” Garoppolo said. “I know some of the plays he had never even heard of before when he was in the huddle, so there was some explaining to do, but I thought he did really well. It was a spark for us, for sure.”
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McCaffrey shared that the coaching staff also spent extra time with him prior to the game to help him be as prepared as possible. The ball carrier was hard on himself, with personal expectations of success but also understanding that at least for this game, there were going to be limitations.
“No one cares if I got here two days ago, or if I’ve been here since April,” McCaffrey said. “If I’m out there with a uniform on, I expect to be prepared and I’m sure my teammates and coaches expect me to be prepared too. You can’t sit there and make excuses.
McCaffrey will have a full week to prepare for the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8, and it appears his support group is prepared to help in any way possible.
