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Will 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey Make his Season Debut in Week 10?

If the plan were to play McCaffrey against the Buccaneers in a couple weeks, wouldn't the 49ers have opened his practice window by now?

Grant Cohn

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) walks on the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) walks on the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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49ers running back Christian McCaffrey won't play Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys, but there's a chance he'll play immediately after the bye week according to The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

"This actually might be the last game where Jordan Mason is the bell cow," Rapoport said. "The 49ers have a bye and Christian McCaffrey should start practicing, and there's a very good chance that McCaffrey is on the field on Nov. 10 for the 49ers' next game (against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)."

It seems clear the 49ers hope that McCaffrey will be ready for that game against the Buccaneers. And barring a strange setback in the next few days, McCaffrey is expected to start practicing with the team when the players return from the bye week.

That means the 49ers should open McCaffrey's three-week practice window on Monday, Nov. 4. Technically, he can practice with the team for 21 days before the 49ers would have to activate him from the Injured Reserve List or end his season for good.

If the plan were to play McCaffrey against the Buccaneers in a couple weeks, wouldn't the 49ers have opened his practice window by now? If he's not ready for any physical contact yet, will the 49ers throw him in a game after just a few practices? Will they be that aggressive after being so cautious with him the past three months?

It seems like McCaffrey still will be at risk of an Achilles' rupture even when he returns. So I would expect the 49ers to remain cautious with him. Because if he tears his Achilles this late in the year, he likely would miss most of next season, too.

I would be surprised if he plays against the Buccaneers. Week 11 against the Seahawks or Week 12 against the Packers seems more prudent.

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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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