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Jerick McKinnon hasn’t played a cinch since the 2017 NFC Championship game, where the running back recorded 126 scrimmage yards on 21 touches as the Minnesota Vikings fell to the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-7 .
Signed by the 49ers two months later, McKinnon was set to become San Francisco’s running back as a multi-faceted offensive contributor. A torn ACL just before the start of the 2018 season sidelined McKinnon in his potential debut as a San Francisco frontman. Exactly a year later, his highly anticipated comeback has again been put on hold, with a setback in his progress.
The third time is a charm for the running back as he returns to the 49ers’ offense. Since the start of camp, McKinnon seems to have put his injury behind him, as one of the first stars in the 49ers full squad sessions. McKinnon looked quick and nimble as he made multiple transfers during the 11v11 job. He also showed off his road running abilities, shooting passes in team and 1v1 drills.
“Jet looks phenomenal, you’d never guess go out there and watch the way he trains, how fluid he is, how he doesn’t suspect, how fast he answers questions in a meeting – all that stuff, you’d never guess this guy hasn’t been on the pitch for two years, ”Kyle Juszczyk said. “He makes things so natural, so sweet. There can only be good things going for him this year, I think he’s going to have a really good year.”
Even newcomer Trent Williams can’t wait to watch McKinnon’s comeback story. The left tackle highlighted McKinnon as the player he’s most eager to watch, saying he can’t understand that the running back is not “an escape player”.
Now that he’s healthy, McKinnon is a key part of Kyle Shanahan’s offense as a ball carrier and in the passing game. He aims to prove he was the dynamic offensive cog the 49ers were looking to add to their arsenal in 2018.
“Jet has always been as hard a worker as there is. He came as prepared as anyone could be,” said Shanahan. We have been through this twice with him. When he came back last year with that, trying to get it back, and he would go out and try to get out of it. You could tell it just didn’t heal and he had to do it all over again. It’s still the first day, the first step, but you can tell it’s healed well. You can tell Jet did this job, and you can feel how much he’s been through the past two years. I feel like he’s finally in a position where he has a chance to have that comeback now and everyone is shooting for him. “
McKinnon admitted to having experienced the mental and emotional challenges of being sidelined in consecutive seasons. He relied on his faith, loved ones, teammates and coaches to keep him high in the process. Now, with a chance at redemption, he will have to practice discipline and stay within his limits for his first opportunity on his Week 1 debut with the 49ers.
“For me, it’s about stacking the days,” McKinnon said. “Learn as much as I can, take that rust of not playing in two years and put myself in these game-like situations in practice. We don’t have a preseason, so every day I have to put myself in these. extreme situations and the environments in my head and make it look like a game type situation. The first chance I’m going to have to come back will be game 1. It will be a real game. So I have to start now. “
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