San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has yet to play during the 2024 NFL season, and some additional details about McCaffrey’s injury were recently revealed. Let’s break down McCaffrey’s status, how long he’s expected to be out, who’s starting in his absence, and more.
What Is Christian McCaffrey’s Injury?
Throughout training camp and the preseason, Shanahan downplayed McCaffrey’s injury as a minor calf strain. While McCaffrey missed practices and all of the 49ers’ preseason games, it seemed like the team was just being extremely cautious with their superstar running back. He returned to practice prior to Week 1, so it appeared he was making progress and would be ready for the start of the regular season.
However, McCaffrey dealt with the soreness and pulled himself out of practice late in the week, so San Francisco held him out of Week 1. After the 49ers’ win over the New York Jets in Week 1, Shanahan revealed that CMC isn’t just dealing with a calf strain — he has Achilles tendinitis.
Now, the latest update is even worse. During a recent interview on KNBR, 49ers general manager John Lynch revealed that McCaffrey is suffering from “bilateral Achilles tendinitis,” which means that he has tendinitis in both Achilles tendons.
That explains why McCaffrey recently traveled to Germany to see an Achilles tendinitis specialist, as his case is a bit more complicated than typical tendinitis.
Kyle Shanahan on if he’s concerned about Christian McCaffrey’s injury could linger over the next several weeks:
“Always. It’s been lingering for the last few weeks, but it’s getting better and better and hopefully he’ll be better next week.” pic.twitter.com/KPXVEoxwAy
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) September 10, 2024
So, what is Achilles tendinitis?
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Achilles tendinitis is an overuse injury of the Achilles tendon, the band of tissue that connects calf muscles at the back of the lower leg to your heel bone.”
The clinic also says the injury “most commonly occurs in runners who have suddenly increased the intensity or duration of their runs.”
In terms of treatment, the clinic says most cases of Achilles tendinitis can be treated with at-home care under a doctor’s supervision, but more serious cases “can lead to tendon tears (ruptures) that may require surgical repair.”
How Long Will McCaffrey Be Sidelined?
This injury is much worse than the 49ers first suspected. In addition to the way it was downplayed during the preseason, Shanahan initially said that McCaffrey was day-to-day rather than week-to-week following their Week 1 game.
However, days later, the 49ers placed McCaffrey on injured reserve (IR), which means he must miss the next four games. And the updates since have been quite concerning.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport recently reported that McCaffrey and the 49ers are targeting an early November return for the star running back.
The 49ers expect to have Christian McCaffrey back "at least by early November," per @RapSheet. pic.twitter.com/e3XtdZ4Cry
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) September 29, 2024
Shanahan was recently asked for an update on McCaffrey’s status and said: “No update. I haven’t talked to him.” When a reporter followed up by asking whether there was any chance that McCaffrey might miss the rest of the season, Shanahan said, “Not that I know of.” That answer is not very comforting, to say the least.
For the 49ers, it makes sense to err on the side of caution since playing McCaffrey could put him at risk of tearing his Achilles. After all, San Francisco is a top contender with Super Bowl aspirations, so they aren’t going to risk losing arguably their best player for the season just to rush him back for an early-season contest.
Also, the 49ers are familiar with Achilles tendinitis, as one of McCaffrey’s teammates dealt with it very recently. Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw suffered from Achilles tendinitis toward the end of last regular season and tore his Achilles while running onto the field during the Super Bowl, so that’s probably factoring into their decision-making too.
Fantasy Outlook for McCaffrey and Jordan Mason
McCaffrey’s absence has certainly been frustrating for fantasy managers since he was the 1.01 draft pick in most fantasy drafts. The hope is that he will return in early November and look like his usual, dominant self.
If you’re confident in McCaffrey’s ability to bounce back and play well in the second half of the season, it can’t hurt to send an offer to the fantasy manager with McCaffrey stashed on their IR and see if you can acquire the best running back in the NFL for pennies on the dollar. Perhaps the recent report that McCaffrey is dealing with Achilles tendinitis in both legs will scare them enough to sell.
While McCaffrey is out, Jordan Mason is starting in his place. The fact that the 49ers have continued running the ball effectively with Mason in the starting lineup could allow the team to be even more patient when it comes to CMC’s recovery.
Through four weeks, Mason has rushed 91 times for 447 yards and three touchdowns while adding six receptions for 57 yards.
All reports suggest that this is Mason’s backfield for at least the next month, and nothing about his usage indicates that regression is coming our way.
Mason has finished three of four weeks this season as a top-12 running back, a streak he’ll have every chance to extend this week. No, he’s not McCaffrey, but he’s assumed a similar role, and CMC tore apart this vulnerable Arizona Cardinals defense almost exactly a year ago (Week 4, 2023: 27 touches, 177 yards, and four touchdowns).
In case you’ve been living under a rock – Mason is on pace for 2,142 yards if he holds this role for the remainder of the season.