Despite being on the roster for two seasons, the San Francisco 49ers haven't seen running back Jerick McKinnon take a regular-season snap since signing in 2018. He's spent the last two seasons on injured reserve after suffering a torn ACL a week before Week 1 in 2018 and undergoing another procedure last year.
The 49ers hope McKinnon has a chance to prove himself this year. The team reworked his contract and made it a more salary-cap friendly one-year deal, giving the running back the opportunity to show he can be what head coach Kyle Shanahan envisioned upon signing him.
McKinnon plans to work with Washington running back Adrian Peterson this offseason when social distancing limitations allow it. Until then, he is working out on his own.
Rischad "The Footwork King" Whitfield posted the following video of McKinnon going through workout drills (h/t to Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area). It's unknown when these sessions actually took place, but they indicate that the running back may be on his way to making his 49ers debut.
Athlete: @JetMckinnon1
Position: RB
Team: @49ersIt's about the mechanics behind these movements. Efficient mover on the field is 🔑 . Every RB needs to be able to move laterally, diagonally, horizontally & change direction quickly. pic.twitter.com/Bu3A8G04Pn
— Footwork_King 🤴🏾 (@footwork_king1) May 9, 2020
San Francisco showed some confidence in McKinnon by trading away the team's 2018 rushing leader, Matt Breida, during the draft.
"I think there's always that critical last juncture of a rehab where you go from running straight ahead and even trying to simulate some of the cutting that goes on at that position, specifically," Lynch recently told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area while discussing McKinnon.
"Then, you go play football, and it becomes much more reactive. And that's where he struggled. He's continued to put in work. There are some positive signs that we're on a better track."
McKinnon rushed for 570 yards with three touchdowns on 150 carries and added 51 receptions for 421 yards with two more scores during his last full season—2017 with the Minnesota Vikings.
"We're pulling for Jerick, and it would be huge for us because we had a clear vision of what he could bring to us," Lynch added. "We thought he'd be excellent in terms of (being a receiver out of the backfield) -- really, a tough guy to match up with in space. And our (coaches) are really good about putting our guys in space. So that would be tremendous for us."
