When Jordan Mason joined the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2022, he wasn't immediately confident he fit into the team's plans or the coaching staff's vision. Early on, Mason struggled to align with running backs coach Bobby Turner's expectations, leading him to question his future with the team.
"I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that we started off on a downhill [path]," Mason told reporters after Saturday's practice. "We were not on good terms at all, and we just had to get it going. I had to learn his style. ... It just took me to growing up and getting in the system, and actually learning—just him—because he's an old-school coach. You gotta do things a certain way, and so, I had to switch up."
Beyond adapting to Turner's coaching style, Mason recognized the need to improve his study habits.
"I just was doing my own thing," Mason said. "He would ask me questions in the running back meeting room. I wasn't answering them because I just simply didn't know. I didn't know the answer at the time."
Since then, Mason has become a dedicated student on and off the field. His hard work has transformed him into a valuable asset for the 49ers.
"I'm a good student in the classroom now," Mason acknowledged.
The arrival of veteran running back Christian McCaffrey during Mason's rookie year might have been disheartening initially. McCaffrey took over the starting role and the majority of carries, further limiting Mason's snap count. However, Mason viewed it as an opportunity to learn from one of the best in the game.
"In the meeting room, I sit beside him," Mason shared. "I'm so grateful and glad that I even get to sit beside him. I pick his brain every day. Hopefully, he's not tired of me. Sometimes, I still feel like I'm the rookie and I'm asking him so many questions. He's probably like, 'Dang, I got to switch my seat or something.' But I just love sitting beside him, though, in the meetings."
Last month, McCaffrey praised Mason's development, noting, "He's improved so much [since] the first time I met him, just the way he is in the meetings, the way he is out at practice."
Inspired by McCaffrey's skill as an elite pass-catcher, Mason worked to improve his own receiving skills this offseason. He invested in a $3,000 JUGS machine to improve his catching ability, and that improvement was noticeable early in training camp.
"I was like, if I want to be something close to Christian, I got to start catching something," Mason commented. "So that was me investing in myself. I bought that machine, and I had my dad out there. He's sweating, got his towel on him, things like that, and he's shooting the JUGS machine at me, and I'm running routes and things like that. We had a fun time with it this summer."
Mason has been so impressive this offseason that head coach Kyle Shanahan recently hinted that Mason might be contending with Elijah Mitchell for the RB2 job.
"I'd say, nothing against Elijah, there's been no falloff in Elijah at all, but JP (Mason) runs at a very high level," Shanahan said. "I see both of those guys, that if Christian's not in there, not going, I mean we always expect, no matter who we've had in the past, that number two, number three, sometimes our fourth guy comes in, and if their number is called, we expect them to run like a starting back. It's just how many reps did they get at it, how long did they last at things like that.
"JP wasn't there right away, but he got there pretty quick. And he did a hell of a job for us last year, and we'll see how camp plays out. But I love both of those guys, and got some depth behind them, too."