Kyle Shanahan mentioned that he didn't inform Jordan Mason ahead of time that he would be starting on Friday.

After the 49ers' season-opening win on Monday night, running back Jordan Mason told ESPN’s Lisa Salters that he knew he’d be starting on Friday. However, during the post-game press conference, coach Kyle Shanahan refuted this claim. “I never told Jordan he was going to start,” Shanahan clarified. “I told him he needed to be ready a lot, but it might have been [running backs coach] Bobby [Turner] or someone else trying to motivate him.

I did know he was going to play a lot, though. I told him it wouldn’t be like usual.” Shanahan also discussed the decision to sideline McCaffrey due to his calf and Achilles injury. “It’s the same issues that bothered him all week,” Shanahan explained. “It was a little too much today. We made a game-time decision after talking to him. The injury was still there, so we thought it was smart to keep him out. And I’m glad we did.”

It's not surprising that the 49ers wouldn’t disclose on Friday that McCaffrey wasn’t going to play. This is just one of the shortcomings of the injury-reporting system. Teams have plenty of opportunities to use gamesmanship, given how vague and minimal these reports can be. Despite this, Mason’s comments turned out to be spot-on, possibly even more reliable than the team’s injury report, which listed McCaffrey as questionable.

READ MORE :: 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (calf) sidelined in win over Jets.