Niners Nation
The 49ers have officially opened the practice window for McCaffrey and IOL Jon Feliciano.
The San Francisco 49ers return to the field Monday for a “bonus practice.” Last week, general manager John Lynch said the Niners plan to open running back Christian McCaffrey’s practice window.
However, this injury dates back to the final game of 2023.
In Week 17 against the Washington Commanders, McCaffrey exited the game early due to a calf injury. After the game, Kyle Shanahan said, “We think he’ll be all right. I don’t know if he would have been able to go next week or not.”
McCaffrey didn’t think the injury was a big deal: “I think it was minor and just made the smart move, especially not knowing what was going to happen next week. I didn’t just want to go in there and make it any worse. With certain things, you can’t be dumb about it.”
McCaffrey didn’t play in a meaningless season-finale game against the Los Angeles Rams. Based on his playoff usage, you would have no idea that CMC was dealing with a calf injury. Against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional round and NFC Championship game, McCaffrey had 24 touches. In the Super Bowl, McCaffrey had 30 touches.
It goes without saying that all bets are off in must-win games, and you’re going to give the ball to your best player, but McCaffrey showed no signs of a lingering calf injury — at least to the naked eye.
Kyle’s update, 11:09 a.m. PT: The 49ers have officially opened the practice window for McCaffrey and IOL Jon Feliciano.
McCaffrey has been sidelined for nearly three months after being ruled out for the preseason with what was thought to be a calf strain.
There are three different grade levels of calf strain. The 49ers initially thought McCaffrey suffered a mild strain, which would have kept him out for around three weeks. That explains why, as the injury was announced on August 6, McCaffrey was only believed to miss the month of August.
At the time, Shanahan said McCaffrey would miss a couple of weeks of practice. But a setback would turn those weeks into months.
A Grade 2 strain is when there’s a partial tear and usually heals anywhere from 4-8 weeks when properly rehabbed. McCaffrey’s calf strain evolved to “painful Achilles tendinitis” after suffering calf tightness.
It was reported that McCaffrey would miss at least six weeks due to the “frustrating and difficult” injury. You can’t help but wonder if this setback would have been avoided if the Niners had shut down McCaffrey initially instead of allowing him to try to work through his injury.
Who knows how this timeline would’ve been altered, but McCaffrey suffered a setback on Thursday before Week 2. Shanahan said McCaffrey had his [worst day of...
