Panthers Have Plan in Place to Keep Christian McCaffrey Healthy

The sixth-year veteran only played in 10 games during the 2020 and ’21 campaigns due to injuries.

Christian McCaffrey has not been the epitome of health over the last couple seasons, and in an effort to help him in the long-term, the Panthers have a recovery plan in place. 

Coach Matt Rhule said Wednesday that the star running back would have Wednesdays off for an extra day of recovery moving forward. Additionally, he does not want to put a number on the amount of carries McCaffrey should get each game. 

“I think whatever the number is, somebody’s going to question it,” Rhule said Wednesday. 

The sixth-year veteran only played in 10 games during the 2020 and ’21 campaigns, and he sat out for the entire preseason. During Carolina’s season-opener against Cleveland, McCaffrey only recorded 10 rushing attempts for 33 yards and a single touchdown. 

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Rhule hinted at a recovery plan that featured breaks before the season began. The coach was discussing Chuba Hubbard and D’Onta Foreman, and he indicated he does not plan to play McCaffrey less because of them. 

“Hopefully, some of the load can be dispersed because we want it to be dispersed, but we’re going to play Christian because we think he can impact the game,” Rhule said, per Panthers.com. “If he gets banged up at some point, we’re just going to work on getting him back. We’re not going to spend too much time worried about ‘Hey, let’s not get him hurt.’ To me, that’s equivalent to him not being on the field.”

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