The NFL has reportedly “looked into” the matter regarding the San Francisco 49ers trying to gain an illegal advantage on the New York Jets in Week 1. The results of the investigation aren’t too surprising, given how the league didn’t care much about Fred Warner tipping off the world that Dre Greenlaw was battling an Achilles injury before February’s Super Bowl.
On last Saturday’s final injury report, the 49ers listed running back Christian McCaffrey as questionable to play the Jets on Monday night because of a calf/Achilles injury. He wound up not playing, and backup running back Jordan Mason had a big night in the 49ers’ backfield.
Jordan Mason opened a can of worms on Monday night
After the Monday night victory, Mason let slip that the 49ers told him he’d be starting the game before Monday, suggesting the 49ers knew McCaffrey wasn’t questionable when they listed him as so on the injury report. (McCaffrey appears to have regressed since last week, and the 49ers are considering placing him on injured reserve.)
Many in the media and sports betting world wanted the 49ers investigated for potentially cheating on the injury report to gain an advantage on the Jets’ coaching staff. McCaffrey’s status was of huge interest to sportsbooks, as they had to rush to change prop bets before the start of Monday night’s game.
Of course, the timeline of McCaffrey’s injury could be important to other people as well. Shanahan said on Aug. 6th that McCaffrey would miss the preseason, but his injury wasn’t a long-term worry. Now we’re learning that the injury is tied to Week 17 of last year.
If McCaffrey’s injury was a long-term issue, that news would have been of interest to any offensive-skilled player on the 49ers looking for leverage in contract negotiations before the start of the regular season.
No league plans to investigate the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday
A league spokesperson told several news outlets on Wednesday that the NFL was not planning to investigate the 49ers for fibbing on the injury report.
However, the league felt the need to drop a statement during the Friday afternoon news dump to cover their butt. Via the NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport, here is the league’s statement:
“We looked into the 49ers’ reporting of the playing status of Christian McCaffrey for the team’s Monday night game against the New York Jets. We have found no evidence of a violation of the league’s Injury Report Policy in this matter.”
“Looked into” is a benign way of saying investigation. One has a hard time believing the league did their due diligence “looking into” the matter seriously.
The NFL had a lot of people to talk to in two days
As Jay Kornegay with Westgate Superbook told Sports Illustrated this week, there were more than a handful of people the league needed to talk to in a true investigation. Teammates, trainers, and other members of the 49ers would have access to information that would be helpful in a league investigation.
True investigations into such matters take time. That’s why last year the league revealed its punishment to the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 22 for not placing Bijan Robinson on the injury report for having a headache in Week 7, nearly two months after the game in question.
The league apparently had no plans to look into the 49ers on Wednesday but happened to do enough looking into the situation to release a statement during the Friday news dump.
Per most of the replies to Rapoport’s post on X, most fans don’t buy the league’s answer.
They shouldn’t.
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