CNN
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The San Francisco 49ers put up a great performance, beating the New York Jets 32-19 on Monday, ruining Aaron Rodgers’ return to the NFL.

San Francisco running back Jordan Mason was the star of the show, starting in the absence of Christian McCaffrey, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, who was nursing a calf injury.

Mason enjoyed a career-high performance, totaling 147 rushing yards on 28 carries, including a five-yard touchdown early in the second half. Niners kicker Jake Moody also added six field goals.

After the game, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy praised Mason’s impact on the Week 1 win.

“So obviously,” Purdy told reporters, “Christian (McCaffrey) is the best running back in the league and what he does, I’m not taking anything away from that, but I think JP has done a good job of stepping in and filling his hole and doing his job of leaving other guys open and allowing us to run our offense.”

The game marked Rodgers’ return to the NFL after missing most of last year after suffering a torn Achilles tendon on the fourth snap of the Jets’ 2023 season opener.

The fourth snap of this year’s campaign also had an ominous ring to it for New York when the team’s running back Breece Hall had the ball knocked out of his hands by Niners linebacker Fred Warner, with San Francisco absorbing the fumble.

Despite the poor start, Rodgers quickly showed why the Jets traded him before last season. By the end of the first quarter, the 40-year-old was vital in orchestrating a 14-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Hall.

The Jets offense, however, struggled to produce much until late in the third period, when San Francisco had built a commanding lead. According to the NFL, the Jets had possession for just 21:20 minutes, the lowest point of Rodgers’ career.

Rodgers – who went 13 of 21 for 167 yards, a touchdown pass and an interception – reflected on his return to action by saying, “I can play better.”

“I missed a couple throws, I missed the one to Garrett (Wilson) on the last drive I was on. The pick, I just missed a little bit inside on that one,” the former Green Bay Packers quarterback said, according to the Jets’ website. “I thought I got the ball out pretty well overall, but we had a couple of opportunities that I’d like to have back.”

“We were just bad on first and second down for a lot of the game,” Rodgers said. “Then we had a couple drives where we converted third downs. I felt like we didn’t have third-and-10-plusses tonight. But we didn’t convert those third-and-mediums. We had a drop, a couple penalties, a bad throw. There’s a lot to correct.”

The 49ers totaled 401 yards of offense, even without McCaffrey, as head coach Kyle Shanahan’s team made a promising start to the 2024 season after losing 25-22 in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII in February.

It was a quiet night for 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who signed a big contract in the offseason and finished with two catches for 28 yards. But that didn’t matter much on a night when a lot went right for San Francisco.