San Francisco 49ers running back Jerick McKinnon was on crutches as he watched his teammates practice on Monday from the sideline. A lot was expected from him this season. McKinnon was going to be a featured part of head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense in 2018.
Things changed on Saturday morning.
When McKinnon went down with an injury at the end of practice that day, he was devastated. He didn't even know the severity of the injury yet. All McKinnon knew at the time was that he wouldn't be available for Week 1 when his teammates took the field.
"I think I was more devastated not at the fact when I found out I tore my ACL and was out for the season," McKinnon said on Monday. "I was more devastated when it happened, just the feeling knowing that it wouldn't be alright for Week 1. I think this game (against the Vikings) probably meant a lot (more) to me than anybody else at this point; against my former team and stuff like that."
Shanahan and the 49ers feared the worst when McKinnon went down — that their offseason prize wouldn't see a snap this season. For McKinnon, it was his first time participating in 11-on-11 drills since an August 12 calf strain kept him out of the 49ers' final three exhibition games. Had the practice session been one play shorter, McKinnon would have still been preparing to face the Minnesota Vikings.
"It was the last play of practice, made a cut on air," Shanahan told reporters on Saturday. "No one was around him. Just went down. It looked awkward [...] Anytime I watch someone feel their knee, there's always that concern (that it is an ACL injury), but I've felt that way before, and it hasn't been so I'm not trying to be the darkest moment in the world right now. We hope that we're wrong."
An MRI revealed that, in this case, Shanahan wasn't wrong. McKinnon indeed tore his ACL, and the running back was now facing season-ending surgery. This was supposed to be the year that McKinnon proved to doubters that he could be the featured back in an NFL offense.
"When it happened, my initial thought was like, 'Dang, I'm not going to have a week to get my knee right,' was probably the worst feeling," McKinnon continued. "Then when they told me what the injury was, it just kind of confirmed it."
McKinnon signed a four-year deal in March worth up to $30 million. The contract made him the fourth-highest paid running back in the league in terms of average annual salary. Six months later, McKinnon is still the sixth-highest paid player at his position. He will earn $12 million this season while cheering his teammates from the sideline.
"I think this is more of a mental battle than a physical battle, so for me, it's about keeping a positive mindset and making sure I still bring energy to this locker room and to the guys around me," McKinnon added. "That's what I'm going to do."
The 49ers placed McKinnon on injured reserve on Monday. Running backs Matt Breida and Alfred Morris are now expected to carry the workload this season. Breida spent 2017 with San Francisco as a backup to Carlos Hyde while Morris was officially signed on August 14,
"When guys go down, that's tough," Morris told reporters on Monday. "That is the nature of the beast of this business that we're in. Unfortunately, it happened, but we're going to keep supporting him, and we're going to keep moving forward."
Morris may be a newcomer to the 49ers, but he spent his first two NFL seasons playing within Kyle Shanahan's offense. He rushed for 2,888 yards in two seasons (2012-13) with Shanahan as his offensive coordinator in Washington, including a 1,613-yard performance in 2012 which broke Clinton Portis' franchise rushing record set in 2005.
Morris feels perfectly capable of doing whatever is asked of him despite not being 100 percent familiar with the 49ers offense's terminology.
"It's not second nature yet and that kind of bothers me just because of the thinking part because when you think, you're not playing as fast," Morris said. "You're slow off the ball; you're thinking about, 'OK, what am I supposed to do?' I'm supposed to protect. So just really working on getting the playbook and taking those reps in practice, so it becomes second nature. Because the quicker I can think, the faster I get to play."
All McKinnon can do now is cheer on his teammates from the sideline, work hard to return next season, and help the other running backs in the room get better.
"You can't sit here and be down about it the whole time or feel sorry for myself because that's not going to do nothing but just set me back even more," McKinnon said. "I'm here to root these guys on, make sure they stay straight and we all hit our team's goals that we've been talking about since I got here."
The 49ers kick off the regular season against the Vikings on Sunday, September 9 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
