Christian McCaffrey: 'I'm Back to 100% and I'm Ready to Roll'
Last season, for the first time in his NFL career, Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey ran into adversity. He missed a total of 13 games after suffering a high-ankle sprain and dealing with shoulder and thigh injuries.
Prior to the 2020 season, McCaffrey had not missed a single game. Once he injured his ankle in Week 2 at Tampa Bay, it marked only the 2nd time that McCaffrey was sidelined for a game since he began his collegiate career at Stanford. Durability is something that McCaffrey takes great pride in and the injury bug he caught in 2020 is something that he won't let define him.
"When you don't play and you have to sit back and watch, it gives you an extra fire for sure," McCaffrey told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. "There's nothing that I love more than playing football. I believe it's what I was born to do and it's what I love to do. Not being able to do that is very tough especially when your mind feels like you can but your body won't let you. I feel great now and I'm so excited for this year and I know everybody else is."
This week, the Panthers began OTAs and so far, so good for the Panthers star running back.
"I feel good. I feel really good. I'm back to 100%, I feel healthy and I'm ready to roll."
When fully healthy, McCaffrey is arguably the best running back in the entire league. If he can avoid injuries, he will be right in the conversation for the MVP award on a yearly basis. I mean, this is the same guy that eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in both rushing and receiving just two years ago becoming only the 3rd player to ever do so.
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