Christian McCaffrey did not play in the first three games of the regular season, and the running back could be out even longer.
McCaffrey flew to Germany to see a specialist for his nagging Achilles tendon injury during the weekend, according to San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. The team is calling his injury Achilles tendonitis, which has lingered since early August. The expectation is McCaffrey will eventually play football this season, but it could be a while before he’s back on the field.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Eric Branch spoke with Dr. Kenton Fibel, a sports medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles and who is also the medical director of the Anaheim Ducks, where he specializes in orthobiologics, a non-surgical field in which stem-cell and platelet-rich plasma injections are used to accelerate healing for various injuries including Achilles tendonitis.
Fibel speculated that McCaffrey’s trip to Germany suggested the player has a more serious injury that will take much longer than a few weeks to heal.
“I think it more suggests this is an injury that they think they are going to need something more to augment his healing that may require weeks or a couple months rather than a week or two,” Fibel said. “This may be something where you realize the pathology is a little bit more serious and reserve a way to allow him to return this season, even if it does take a month or two with him needing a longer recovery.”
The 49ers placed McCaffrey on the injured reserved list on Sept. 14, meaning meaning he’s ineligible to play until the Week 6 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. McCaffrey’s trip to Germany caused some to speculate that he won’t be ready to play when he eligible to return. Shanahan was asked if McCaffrey could miss the entire season.
“Not that I know of,” Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday.
Fortunately for the 49ers, backup running back Jordan Mason has been a revelation. The fourth-year back is second in the NFL with 364 yards on 67 carries. He has scored two touchdowns while averaging 4.8 yards a carry in three games.
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