Jerick McKinnon is on a mission. The San Francisco 49ers running back who has yet to play a regular-season snap since signing with the team in 2018, is motivated by those who doubt he can return from injury and contribute in a meaningful way.
McKinnon renegotiated his contract with the 49ers, giving him another opportunity to show the 49ers he can be the player that head coach Kyle Shanahan envisioned. He was seen as a running back who could be just as dangerous catching the football out of the backfield as he could be carrying it.
That ended when McKinnon suffered a torn ACL in 2018, a week before the start of his regular-season debut with the 49ers. A setback in 2019 and another procedure shut down the running back for yet another season.
Rischad "The Footwork King" Whitfield recently showed off some of McKinnon's offseason training, and the running back even has plans to work out with his former Minnesota Vikings teammate, Adrian Peterson.
One 49ers beat writer, Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated, has his doubts about McKinnon, though, and the running back appears to be okay with that. In fact, it is those types of doubts that are motivating him this offseason to prove that he has a place on San Francisco's roster.
The #49ers can't count on Jerick McKinnon https://t.co/MBFdrGk0sL pic.twitter.com/GpDGr1JtKN
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) May 11, 2020
I love this shit keep it coming !!!
— Jerick Mckinnon (@JetMckinnon1) May 11, 2020
Cohn was a fan of McKinnon's response.
Perfect response. Respect. https://t.co/QIwLX7fJYN
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) May 11, 2020
"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," general manager John Lynch recently told NBC Sports Bay Area. "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."
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—a 2017 campaign with Minnesota. Whenever teams are allowed to reconvene in person, he will compete for a roster spot and potential playing time with Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman, Jeff Wilson Jr., and a couple of undrafted-free-agent additions.