49ers RB Christian McCaffrey Out vs. Rams With Calf Injury

With the San Francisco 49ers already locked into the NFC's top seed, star running back Christian McCaffrey will miss Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams to heal up.

Having already locked up the NFC's top seed, the San Francisco 49ers are opting to rest at least one of their stars in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Rams.

On Tuesday, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced that superstar running back Christian McCaffrey would miss the final game of the regular season after suffering a mild calf strain in Sunday's win over the Washington Commanders. However, Shanahan expressed optimism that McCaffrey would be back for the playoffs after San Francisco's first-round bye.

"We're real confident on that," Shanahan told reporters. "It was good news. It could have been a lot worse. We're happy that they'll take care of him this week and hopefully he'll start getting to go during our off week."

Christian McCaffrey / © Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY

In his first full season with the 49ers, McCaffrey has been nearly unstoppable. The former Carolina Panthers running back leads the league by a huge margin with 1,459 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, alongside 564 yards and seven touchdowns as a receiver. McCaffrey's 2,023 yards from scrimmage are the most in the NFL this season, and he is both the front-runner for Offensive Player of the Year and a dark-horse MVP candidate.

It remains to be seen if other 49ers stars will follow McCaffrey's lead on Sunday, but with essentially nothing to play for, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the rest.

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While the Rams have also locked up a playoff spot, they have slightly more to play for in terms of seeding. L.A. currently holds the No. 6 seed but could fall to No. 7 with a loss and a Green Bay Packers win. Rams coach Sean McVay has said there's "a possibility" they could rest some starters, but hasn't said definitively yet.

The Rams and 49ers will kick off from Levi's Stadium at 4:25 p.m. ET (1:25 p.m. local time).