Basically, Christian McCaffrey played well against the Buccaneers on Sunday. But he didn’t play like the Christian McCaffrey we’ve grown accustomed to seeing.

He caught six passes, including a clutch 30-yarder in the fourth quarter. And he finished the game with a team-high 107 yards from scrimmage. So he showed flashes of the player he was for the 49ers the past two seasons.

But he ran for just 39 yards on 13 carries. That’s just 3 yards per attempt. He seemed hesitant compared to the relentless runner he was in the past.

“It’s the third time I’ve put on pads in eight weeks, so I’m getting back into the routine,” McCaffrey said after the game. “That was really good for me. I think there are a couple of things where maybe I didn’t feel 100% myself, but that’s normal when you haven’t played in a long time, and I’ll learn and grow from them and keep moving forward.”

McCaffrey looked healthy, but he didn’t break tackles or make defenders miss like he usually does. And that’s fine for now. The most important thing is that he made it through the game without re-injuring his Achilles tendon.

But until he feels like himself, the 49ers would do well to rotate him with Jordan Mason, who carried the ball just once against the Buccaneers. The 49ers would be much more dangerous if Mason and McCaffrey split carries for the rest of the season.

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