Christian McCaffrey remains on track to make his 2024 season debut on Sunday.
The San Francisco 49ers’ star running back returned to practice on Monday and emerged from that and Wednesday’s session pain free. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan is happy to have his best offensive player back in practice, but outlined what he needs to see before determining if McCaffrey will play on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“That he’s just Christian McCaffrey and he’s not hurting,” Shanahan told reporters Wednesday. “But as long as everything goes well, it has in the rehab. So, just as long as he doesn’t get sore and have setbacks each day with practice, usually if you get that in practice, that means it’s going to be worse in the game. So hopefully he can string together three days in a row and not have any of those.”
The 49ers opened the 21-day practice window for McCaffrey on Monday and he must be activated by Nov. 25 at the latest or he’ll go back to injured reserve for the remainder of the 2024 season.
McCaffrey has not played this season while dealing with tendonitis in both of his Achilles tendons that began during training camp in August. The severity of the injuries prompted questions about whether McCaffrey’s workload during the 2023 led to the injuries. McCaffrey carried the football 272 times, second only to Derrick Henry’s 280 in 2023. He also caught 67 passes, third among running backs. He also ran for 59 times and caught 19 passes during the 49ers’ run to Super Bowl 58.
“I don’t believe that. I don’t think he believes that,” Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. “I think things happen to a body. I think they happen in [the] offseason, but I don’t think that really has to do with numbers. When a guy is healthy and good, they’re usually good. But we’ve got to see where his conditioning is at, how he is. I know he is conditioned as well as he can be, but how his football conditioning is and stuff. But usually, I don’t chalk up to numbers one year to affect the injury the next year.”
If the 49ers decide McCaffrey can play on Sunday, Shanahan was vague on determining what his workload will be against the Buccaneers.
“It definitely could [be a normal workload], but it also definitely might not,” Shanahan told reporters.
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