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49ers Hope to Have Christian McCaffrey Back for Week 7 vs. Chiefs

My best guess is that the 49ers will be careful and conservative and wait until Week 10 to play McCaffrey this season.

Grant Cohn

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) talks with running back Christian McCaffrey (23) on the sideline during the second quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) talks with running back Christian McCaffrey (23) on the sideline during the second quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images
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Finally, the 49ers get some good news about Christian McCaffrey.

He just completed a full week of physical activity without suffering a setback to his bilateral Achilles tendonitis, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. This is a big step for him. Keep in mind, he had to rest for weeks and fly to German to receive a treatment that isn't available in the United States. So he has been struggling to see positive results. Finally, he's seeing some.

That being said, the 49ers don't feel McCaffrey is read to return for Thursday's game against the Seattle Seahawks, which is just four days away. Technically, that's when McCaffrey will be eligible to return from the Injured Reserve List.

But the 49ers are being cautious and hoping that McCaffrey will be ready for Week 7 against the Chiefs or Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys. Both games will be at Levi's Stadium on grass, which would be ideal for McCaffrey's return. I doubt the 49ers want him to play his first game of the season on turf, which is what the Seahawks have at their stadium. The risk of an Achilles' tear will be greater on turf than on grass.

If McCaffrey isn't quite ready by Week 8, he can skip that game and use the Week 9 bye week to get ready for Week 10 in Tampa Bay.

My best guess is that the 49ers will be careful and conservative and wait until Week 10 to play McCaffrey this season.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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