49ers Concerned Christian McCaffrey's Achilles Injury Could Linger

When he injured it in August, the 49ers called it a calf strain. Didn't say anything about McCaffrey's Achilles.

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) watches from the sideline due to injury during the second quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

SANTA CLARA -- Suddenly, the 49ers don't know when Christian McCaffrey will return from his Achilles' strain.

When he injured it in August, the 49ers called it a calf strain. Didn't say anything about McCaffrey's Achilles. And he said the only reason he skipped the preseason games is because they didn't count. If it were the regular season, he said would have been healthy enough to play.

Then the regular season started and McCaffrey was inactive. Now it's unclear when he'll return.

Are the 49ers concerned that his Achilles injury could linger? Here's what Shanahan said after the 49ers beat the Jets courtesy of the 49ers p.r. department.

SHANAHAN: "Oh, always. It's been lingering the last few weeks. But it's getting better and better. Hopefully it'll be better next week."

Q: With the next two games on artificial surfaces, will that play a factor into what you do with Christian? Particularly, the last time you played on artificial surfaces?

SHANAHAN: “Not totally. I don't think that was because of Dre Greenlaw. The game, I thought it had to do more with the practice week. But you can make the stuff with turf and everything, I'll ask the player how he's feeling. If they feel good and they're ready to go, they're ready to go. If they say, ‘I feel good on grass but not on turf,’ that's usually the way of saying that you don't really feel that good. We'll see how he feels tomorrow, we'll see how he feels the next day and we'll see how he feels on Sunday.”

Q: There was a report that Christian probably wouldn't play against Minnesota just because it's a short week and on turf.

SHANAHAN: “I'm saying it's amazing that person must be God. Because we just found out he wasn't playing today, and I have no idea how he's going to feel tomorrow or the next day. I thought he was playing this whole week, until today. I don't know who knows that he's not playing next week.”