Finally, the 49ers have given an actual timeline for Christian McCaffrey’s return.
He won’t play Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. But after that game, the 49ers will have their Bye week, which means he will have two more weeks to recover and prepare before potentially making his season debut Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Christian’s still progressing through his rehab,” Kyle Shanahan said Monday on a conference call. “He hasn’t had any setbacks, so it’s been all good news so far. I’d be surprised to get him back this week. But hopefully the Bye week will go well and have a much better chance there right after the Bye week.”
The 49ers have to be smart with McCaffrey. He’s at risk of rupturing his Achilles. That’s why he’s sitting out and why he went to Germany for special treatments unavailable in America. He’s trying to avoid a catastrophic injury and preserve his career.
If McCaffrey returns Week 10 and tears his Achilles in November or December, he most likely will most next season. And the 49ers can’t afford him to miss 2025 as well as most of 2024.
The 49ers already have lost Brandon Aiyuk for the season. If they lose to the Cowboys — which is possible, they lost to the Rams — they’ll be 3-5. In that case, would it be fair to ask McCaffrey to rush back and risk injury to save a season that might be doomed one way or the other?
Stay tuned.
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