MINNEAPOLIS — Just hours after Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that receiver Jordan Addison would be out for Sunday’s home opener, the San Francisco 49ers ruled out one of their own offensive playmakers.
Reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey will miss Sunday’s game in Minneapolis as he continues to deal with a calf injury and Achilles tendonitis.
McCaffrey sat out San Francisco’s season opener against the New York Jets, but the 49ers didn’t miss a beat. Jordan Mason stepped up to rush for 147 yards and a score as San Francisco rolled to a 32-19 win over the Aaron Rodgers-led Jets. Mason will likely be called upon to lead the ground attack for at least the next four weeks after the team reportedly placed McCaffrey on IR Saturday after he experienced pain in practice earlier this week.
Addison played in Minnesota’s season opener against the New York Giants but injured his ankle in the third quarter and never returned. He finished with three catches for 35 yards and drew a crucial pass interference to help set up Minnesota’s first touchdown.
According to NFL Insider Tom Pelissero, the league fined Giants linebacker Darius Muasau $4,696 for the tackle that injured Addison. Despite no flag being thrown, the NFL later classified it a "hip-drop tackle," which was banned in the offseason.
With Addison out, Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold will almost certainly rely more heavily on superstar Justin Jefferson, who missed last season’s game against the 49ers with an injury of his own.
“I remember the stadium being very loud, very electric with the fans and us making a whole bunch of plays,” said Jefferson about last season’s 22-17 win over the 49ers. “Of course, (Addison) had a huge game – that was pretty much his start of really him being who he is today – but I’m excited to now be in the same in the same position now with me playing this time.”
Jefferson admitted that the team would miss Addison’s contributions but said he’s confident in the other receivers on the roster, including speedster Jalen Nailor, who caught a 21-yard touchdown in the season opener against the Giants.
"I feel like countless times throughout training camp, we've seen him make plays all over the field, and that's the main reason we've been talking about this the whole entire training camp," Jefferson said. "We are confident in him to make those plays just like last Sunday, seeing him make plays and scoring touchdowns."
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And Nailor won’t be the only receiver contributing. O’Connell said he’s also going to lean on Brandon Powell, Trent Sherfield Sr. and Trishton Jackson, who was inactive in last week’s season opener.
“I think you’re going to see kind of a variety of all those guys doing different jobs throughout the game,” O’Connell said. “Trishton’s gonna be up as well, and that’s why Trishton’s here. He had a great camp, really can fill in at any one of those three spots, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
With McCaffrey out, the 49ers will be missing one of the best running backs in the game. However, there was very little drop-off – if any – in their game against the Jets. San Francisco also used receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. in the backfield to provide an extra layer to the ground game.
Minnesota’s run defense looked sharp in the season opener, holding the Giants to just 74 total rushing yards and a 3.5-yards-per-carry average, but San Francisco should prove to be a much tougher test.
Vikings right guard Ed Ingram (tricep), right tackle Brian O'Neill (elbow) and safety Harrison Smith (hip) all showed up on the injury report during the week, but are a go for Sunday.
San Francisco safety Talanoa Hufanga was ruled out with a knee injury.
