Shanahan: Christian McCaffrey experiences no Achilles setback, on track to play Week 10

Nov 6, 2024, 3:40 PM | Updated: 3:43 pm

Christian McCaffrey #23 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts as he runs onto the field before Super Bo...

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

San Francisco 49ers Beat Writer

The 49ers are feeling much better coming out of the bye week, as all signs continue to point towards Christian McCaffrey returning to the lineup in the near future.

San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced that the team’s star running back will be limited for Wednesday’s practice. Despite that, McCaffrey has responded well in his ramp-up, experiencing no setbacks with his achilles injury. Should he make it through the practice week unscathed, a return to gameday is in the cards for Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“Yeah, he was good. We didn’t do too much. Had no pain and was good yesterday and excited to get him back out there today,” Shanahan said about Christian McCaffrey before practice Wednesday.

Shanahan shares the latest updates on CMC 🔽 pic.twitter.com/PlP4iVC9h8

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 6, 2024

CMC returned to the field for the 49ers during the bonus practice Monday, looking his usual self during the media portion. But while the player hasn’t experienced a setback in months, the 49ers aren’t putting his return in writing just yet, likely taking it up to gasmday for his return.

“Publicly? Kickoff,” Shanahan said with a chuckle on when a decision will be made for Christian McCaffrey.

The 49ers expected the Colorado native to be good to go for Week 1 before being a late scratch prior to kickoff. He suffered his worst setback of all a few days later at practice, putting him on ice indefinitely.

Now almost two months removed, McCaffrey is moving like himself once more, needing to maintain that status through the week.

“That he’s just Christian McCaffrey and he’s not hurting,” Shanahan added. “As long as everything goes well, it has in the rehab, so just as long as his achilles 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 you can string together three days in a row and not have any [setbacks].”

First extended look at Christian McCaffrey back at 49ers practice pic.twitter.com/fVMMDzUMzS

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) November 6, 2024

In addition to Christian McCaffrey, a slew of 49ers are limited Wednesday. That includes wide receivers Jauan Jennings and Deebo Samuel, and kicker Jake Moody.

Meanwhile, WR Chris Conley missed Wednesday’s session due to a hamstring issue, and defensive tackle Kevin Givens was absent with a groin injury. Cornerback Charvarius Ward continues to be away from the team following the passing of his one-year old daughter last week.