After Monday night’s season-opening win, 49ers running back Jordan Mason told ESPN’s Lisa Salters that he knew he would start on friday.

During his post-game press conference, coach Kyle Shanahan denied this.

“I never told Jordan he was going to start,” Shanahan told reporters. “I told him he had to be ready a lot. But it could have been (running backs coach) Bobby (Turner) or somebody trying to get him fired up. But I knew he was going to have to play a lot. I told him it wasn’t going to be like normal.”

Shanahan also explained the decision not to dress McCaffrey due to his calf and Achilles tendon injuries.

“Just the same stuff that’s been bothering him all week,” Shanahan said. “There was a little too much today. A decision at the time of the game. He came in, and he just talked to him about it. It was still there. I thought it would be smart to keep him out. And glad we did.”

No one would expect the 49ers to admit they knew McCaffrey wouldn’t play Friday. Again, it’s one of the shortcomings of the injury reporting system. There are plenty of ways for teams to play games, given the general, stark reality of injury reporting.

Anyway, Mason said what he said. And whatever he was told turned out to be accurate. Much more accurate, perhaps, than the team’s injury report that listed McCaffrey as questionable.