Christian Mccaffrey Injury Update
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is back in headlines for all the wrong reasons—less than a week before kickoff, he landed on the team’s injury report with a calf issue and was suddenly limited in Thursday’s practice. Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) reported on Twitter that San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is dealing with a calf injury and was limited in practice today.
It’s honestly frustrating how déjà vu this feels; all summer, Niners fans (and fantasy football die-hards) saw clips of McCaffrey zipping in drills, looking fully rehabbed from last year’s catastrophic run of injuries—Achilles, calf, PCL, the works. Now, out of nowhere, he’s on the “limited” list, and yes, the entire Bay Area inhaled sharply. I don’t know about you, but the 49ers’ injury updates always feel like that suspenseful moment in a horror film—the door creaks, and you really don’t want what comes next.
According to the official report, McCaffrey participated in individual drills, but nobody’s saying if he finished with the group. The coaches, as always, are keeping it cryptic, but after last year when he supposedly had a “minor calf tweak” that morphed into a season-derailing Achilles issue—he literally missed eight games, went overseas for therapy, barely returned, and then twisted his knee in the snow—caution seems warranted. Joe Beldner (@JoeBeldner) shared on Twitter, that Christian McCaffrey was limited in today’s practice with a calf issue, calling it the worst possible update for the 49ers.
He’s 29 now and has missed time in three of his last five seasons (man, time really flies; it feels like he was a rookie just yesterday). Friends who root for the Niners keep texting me nervously—one swears his fantasy lineup is cursed and is trying voodoo and chamomile tea in equal measure.
The team’s remaining hush-hush, so everyone’s refreshing Twitter and hoping for a positive Friday practice report. If he can’t go on Sunday against Seattle, Brian Robinson Jr. and Isaac Guerendo—a rookie who flashed a bit last year—would supposedly step in. I’ll say this: watching McCaffrey healthy is one of the great joys in football. But honestly, the constant worry about his calf/Achilles situation has turned me into a bit of a nervous wreck every September. Here’s hoping this is just a minor blip, not the start of another write-off year—but man, if there’s a football god, now would be a nice time for a miracle.
