Who Should I Start? Christian McCaffrey or Tony Pollard

Tuesday, September 10, 12:20 AM

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan clarified that running back Christian McCaffrey's (calf) injury did not involve a setback but was simply too bothersome for him to play effectively on Sunday. Despite practicing all week, McCaffrey's calf issue has been intermittent and proved too troublesome for this game. During the ESPN postgame interview, Jordan Mason mentioned he was informed on Friday night that he would be starting, but Shanahan corrected this, stating that Mason was only told he would likely see significant playing time and didn't confirm the starting role until the day of the game. Shanahan addressed the situation to prevent any potential league repercussions. The excellent news is McCaffrey did not suffer a setback, and he will have six days to recover before the 49ers face the Vikings in Week 2. McCaffrey remains a must-start if available, while Mason is his top backup and must start if McCaffrey is sidelined again.

Monday, September 9, 1:54 PM

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan said on Monday that the distribution of touches between running backs Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears in the Week 1 season-opening loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday wasn't where the team wanted it to be. Callahan said that Pollard ran the ball well, and in the second half, the Titans had trouble sustaining drives, which hindered opportunities to get Spears involved. In the end, Pollard out-touched Spears 19 to eight, and Spears played only 44 percent of the offensive snaps. Pollard finished with 16 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 12 yards in his Titans debut. Spears had only four carries for 21 yards and caught all four targets for 11 yards. It will be interesting to see how the touches are split in a tough Week 2 matchup at home against the New York Jets. In that one, both Pollard and Spears should be considered RB3/flex options.