Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears react to Christian McCaffrey being inactive for Monday Night Football

Chrisitan McCaffrey is a late scratch for the San Francisco 49ers against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.

With many having their betting tickets voided and fantasy managers scrambling to adjust the last-second lineup changes, reactions to McCaffrey missing out on the season opener have flooded the internet. For the ESPN Monday Night Countdown crew’s Ryan Clark — he explained the impact of him missing Monday’s matchup.

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“Listen I don’t care if it’s, Jordan Mason, Anthony Mason, a mason jar — they ain’t Christian McCaffrey,” Clark told co-host Scott Van Pelt. “This team relies on him so heavily, both in the run game and the pass game. Even from Kyle Shanahan having an opportunity to scheme up certain things by formation, Christian McCaffrey is a huge cog in what makes this entire offense go. And you’re already thinking of having a guy like Brandon Aiyuk, who may have limited reps and limited snaps, and now you lose the offensive player of the year.

“This is huge, especially if you were expecting to have him, and then something popped up today that took him out of the lineup.”

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New Countdown host Jason Kelce called it a “huge” loss for the 49ers, but called it “the right move.” From his experience, Kelce said that calf injuries can linger and heavily hinder an athlete’s abilities — especially for an all-purpose back like McCaffrey.

For fellow co-host Marcus Spears, a defensive end during his playing days, he was naturally thinking defensive-mindedly when he heard the news that the Pro Bowl tailback was inactive.

“If I’m Robert Saleh, I’m going back to that defense, ‘I need to get this blitz back in here. This blitz back here,'” Spears said. “I talked about the matchup before the game with Quincy Williams and CJ Mosley. I thought it really was going to come down to them in space with Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel. These are the YAC kings of the NFL. Throw a five yard route and they are taking 50 [yards] and then take it 80 and keep the chains moving.

“It also makes me feel good about by over with George Kittle for now because he’s gonna have to be really impactful, especially in that space in middle of the field.”

The 49ers will likely turn to Jordan Mason for the bulk of their rushing snaps against the Jets on Monday. Patrick Taylor Jr. is listed as the third-string running back. McCaffrey is also expected to miss Week 2’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, meaning Mason will have his number called often early this season.

Kickoff between the 49ers and Jets is set for 8:15 p.m. ET live on ABC and ESPN.