Christian McCaffrey continues to look good and is pain free through practices this week, and the All-Pro running back is expected to make his 2024 season debut on Sunday.
McCaffrey emerged healthy after the 49ers’ toughest practice of the week on Thursday. McCaffrey has looked good after three days of practices this week, leading San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan to express optimism he will play on Sunday when the 49ers take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“He’s been awesome these last two days,” Shanahan told radio station KNBR in San Francisco. “You never know [about] a setback or anything, but these two days have been great, and I expect to see him out there.”
Shanahan said earlier this week that he wanted to see McCaffrey go through three consecutive days of practice without pain for him to declare him ready to play. The running back went through a strenuous practice with pads on Thursday. The 49ers will have a light practice on Friday and a walk-through on Saturday.
“You just want to see that they respond. But he’s looked terrific, and I’d say hopeful that he’s going to be out there with us,” San Francisco general manager John Lynch told radio station KNBR in San Francisco via 49erswebzone.com. ”I think that’s all good news for us. We know what a special player Christian is, and he’s worked incredibly hard. Really have had so much respect for him. But watching him go through this, the intensity and detail with which he approaches everything in his life, including this rehab, has been pretty remarkable.”
McCaffrey, the league’s leading rusher and Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, has been on injured reserve since Sept. 14 because of bilateral Achilles tendinitis that followed a calf injury that began to bother him during training camp in early August. He missed almost all of training camp before returning to practice just before the season opener. The pain persisted, leading the 49ers to place him on injured reserve to spent that time rehabilitating, including a trip to Germany for treatment.
If McCaffrey is back in the lineup, Shanahan has been vague on his workload during the game, only saying how McCaffrey feels before and during the game will determine how much he does play. The 49ers (4-4) are hoping McCaffrey’s return will give them a much-needed boost going into the second half of the season.
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