Why is Christian McCaffrey’s latest injury update concerning for the 49ers?
Though it remains unclear as to the extent of the 49ers star’s problem, what has become increasingly apparent is that his injury is worse than first thought.
With all of the back and forth surrounding the Niners running back and the extent of his injury, it’s been hard to put a handle on exactly what he is facing and how long it will take before he can return.
Christian McCaffrey’s season could be in jeopardy
If you’ve been following Christian McCaffrey’s situation, then you will know that the San Francisco 49ers star running back is currently out with what has been diagnosed as Achilles tendinitis. You will also know that the reigning Offensive Player of the Year also traveled to Germany to see a specialist about the problem. Following that, we provided another update to the effect that the Niners were planning to ramp up his rehabilitation program in an effort to get him back on the field as quickly as possible.
With that, we come to the latest turn in McCaffrey’s saga which is that it is now clear that McCaffrey’s return to action is unknown. According to comments on the 49ers Talk podcast, McCaffrey is dealing with bilateral Achilles tendinitis which is to say he’s suffering in both of his legs, not one. As we know, the 28-year-old was been placed on injured after Week 1 due to a calf injury and the previously mentioned Achilles tendinitis, though it must be said that the team never indicated that McCaffrey had the problem in both of his legs.
So, what now? With McCaffrey on IR, the earliest he can return is Week 6 - NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport indicated on Sunday that he’s expected back by “at least early November.” As stated before there were also comments from 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan who stated that the team would be increasing the load on McCaffrey in rehab but again, it remains to be seen whether that will actually be the case as more and more details continue to emerge. Where the facts are concerned, the Niners will once again be relying on Jordan Mason who they will hope can handle the workload in the backfield. Luckily the third-year running back appears to have things covered.
To date, Mason has notched more than 100 rushing yards in three of his first four games as a starter for the team, which is very good news when considering that ESPN’s Adam Schefter stated that even McCaffrey himself is unsure of when he will return to the field. Incidentally, Schefter also went on to confirm McCaffrey’s bilateral status though he did note that it was not a new development in the situation. “No, during the time he’s had it in both. I think it started in one, you overcompensate, it went to the other. But mainly one of them has just been bothering him, but he’s had it in both.”