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Mason’s dedication, maturity key in continued 49ers development originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SANTA CLARA — Success isn’t always linear, which 49ers third-year running back Jordan Mason certainly can attest to.
The 25-year-old has skyrocketed up San Francisco’s depth chart after he was signed as an undrafted free agent shortly after the 2022 NFL Draft and if the 2024 season started today, Mason might leapfrog veteran Elijah Mitchell as the team’s No. 2 running back behind Christian McCaffrey.
However, after San Francisco signed him, Mason’s NFL career got off to a shaky start. In speaking to reporters on Saturday after 49ers training camp practice, Mason shared how his initial rocky relationship with running backs coach Bobby Turner played a role in his quick maturation process.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that we started off on a downhill [trajectory], we were not on good terms at all and we just had to get it going,” Mason said of his early relationship with Turner. “I had to learn his style … it just took me growing up, getting in the system and actually learning him. Because he’s an old-school coach, so you’ve got to do things a certain way. It was just how I had to switch up.”
“‘Bad terms’ as in I wasn’t the guy he wanted me to be. And that’s it. I was just doing my own thing. He would ask me questions in the running back meeting room, I wasn’t answering them because I simply didn’t know.”
Not only was Mason being coached by one of the NFL’s best at the position, but he got to play alongside the actual best player at the position in McCaffrey.
“A lot. A lot. In the meeting room, I sit beside him,” Mason said when asked how much he has learned from McCaffrey. “I’m grateful and glad 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, I ask him so many questions he’s probably like ‘I gotta switch my seat.’ I just love sitting beside him.”
In two seasons with the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/masons-dedication-maturity-key-continued-221131771.html
Author : NBC Sports BayArea
Publish date : 2024-08-03 22:11:31
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