The San Francisco 49ers are dealing with a ton of issues heading into their regular-season opener against the New York Jets.
Obviously, most of the talk has surrounded All-Pro receiver Brandon Aiyuk and his “hold in” from training camp. It looks like the star pass-catcher will be traded at some point soon. Future Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams is also a holdout from training camp as he seeks a raise.
These are not great situations for the defending NFC champions. We can now add another issue to the mix.
According to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan (h/t Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area), star running back Christian McCaffrey is dealing with a calf injury that will cost him the entire preseason slate. Shanahan noted that he’ll be out of practice for a couple of weeks.
Calf injuries are extremely sticky situations in the sports landscape. Teams have to take it slow with players dealing with such injuries in order to avoid an escalation. Several times throughout the years, athletes returning early from a calf issue end up dealing with an Achilles injury. The 49ers obviously can’t afford that with the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
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- Christian McCaffrey stats (2023): 1,459 rushing yards, 67 receptions, 564 yards, 2,023 total yards, 21 TD
As you can see, the 28-year-old McCaffrey is coming off one of the best individual seasons for a running back in modern NFL history. His importance to the 49ers’ success can’t be overstated.
San Francisco seemingly prepared for this eventuality by bringing back veteran running back Matt Breida earlier in the week. Breida had played for the team from 2017-19.
The good news? It still looks like McCaffrey will be able to go once the regular season opens in roughly a month.