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The 49ers Redefine Christian McCaffrey's Injury as "Calf/Achilles"

Richard Sherman also was dealing with Achilles' soreness for a while before he ruptured it during his final season in Seattle.

Grant Cohn

August 18, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) watches warm ups before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
August 18, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) watches warm ups before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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Christian McCaffrey was limited during Thursday's practice due to what the 49ers now call a "calf/Achilles" injury.

This injury isn't new. He suffered it a month ago and hasn't practiced fully since then. But for the past month, the 49ers characterized the injury as just a calf strain. They didn't say anything about his Achilles.

Now that the regular season is upon us, the league mandates that teams be transparent and specific about their players' injuries. So the 49ers have no choice but to reveal the exact nature of McCaffrey's ailment.

And the news isn't great. Achilles' strains often lead to Achilles' tears no matter how long you rest them. Dre Greenlaw dealt with an Achilles' strain through most of last season and then ultimately ruptured during the Super Bowl when he simply was running onto the field.

Richard Sherman also was dealing with Achilles' soreness for a while before he ruptured it during his final season in Seattle. Ditto goes for Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins, both of whom tore their Achilles' tendons.

Which means no matter how cautious the 49ers are with McCaffrey this season, a devastating injury could be unavoidable. And it could be the culmination of all the wear and tear McCaffrey has experienced in his career. Keep in mind, he has led the league in touches twice including once last season. And he's 28, which isn't young for a running back. He's reaching the age where his body could begin to break down, if it hasn't begun the process already,

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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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