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San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is expected to make his season debut Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after battling Achilles tendinitis. This week, McCaffrey returned to practice looking as sharp as ever.

Jordan Mason and rookie Isaac Guerendo stood up remarkably in his absence. Mason averaged an impressive 5.1 yards per carry, which was the heaviest workload of his career thus far. Guerendo chipped in with an average of 6.1 yards per carry, aided by several explosive runs.

One of the benefits of McCaffrey’s time on the bench has been valuable playing experience for both young backs.

“JP Mason “He’s a guy, when you’re on an NFL team as an undrafted free agent, we cut a third-round pick at one point to keep him, so I think that tells you that he always delivers,” said the general manager. » John Lynch said Friday morning on Bay Area radio station KNBR.

“And JP was kind of successful in this league as a backup player who closed out games, but he was a really good special teams player. He got an (opportunity) when Christian was injured, and he really had a fantastic season. He’s of the mindset that he’ll be ready whenever we give it to him.

The 49ers selected Guerendo, who ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, in the fourth round of this year’s draft, adding speed to their running back group.

“Isaac obviously has a special talent,” Lynch explained. “We just don’t select practice warriors. We select really good football players. But he happens to be a practice warrior, one of those testing anomalies who is so gifted, explosive, and you can see it translate on the field and it seems like it’s getting a little bit better every week.

Even with McCaffrey returning, the 49ers don’t plan to sideline these two promising young guards after their strong performances this season.

“So obviously you always want to get those guys involved,” Lynch continued. “They can both help on special teams, they can both help on offense. You’ll see a lot of those guys again.”

You can listen to Lynch’s full interview below.