Christian McCaffrey injury update: Insider shares surprising revelation on 49ers RB's Achilles issues

An NFL insider shared more details on Christian McCafrrey’s Achilles injury. On the 49ers Talk Podcast, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area said that the San Francisco 49ers running back has bilateral Achilles tendonitis, meaning he has it in both legs. McCaffrey went to Germany to get treatment done for the injury.

McCaffrey is currently on injured reserve, but the 49ers intend to put him back in the lineup soon. Last week, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and talked about how McAffrey’s return might not be very soon.

“I guess, just from a common sense standpoint, we can just say we don’t know what’s going to happen here with him,” Schefter said. “You just don’t know. Because he took off time during training camp, came back, and was worse off. OK. So now he’s taking off more time, he’s getting treated, he’s going to come back and let’s see how he’s feeling at that point in time. He might be better, he might not. We don’t know. But in their minds, they’re thinking, they’re expecting him to come back here in weeks. Whether that’s three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, whatever that is.” 

Kyle Shanahan set goal for Christian McCaffrey before injury

McCaffrey has not played a down for the 49ers this season after recording 2,023 yards from scrimmage and 21 total touchdowns in 2023. During the summer, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan talked about having McCaffrey carry the ball less in 2024 to prevent major injuries.

“We have to protect Christian from himself.,” Shanahan said, per The Athletic. “He doesn’t like to ever come out no matter what the situation is and I do think that’s something we could protect him with more. When you are such a threat in the pass game, it’s a little bit different. … But if he’s just taking the wear and tear with 20 carries and stuff every game – and he’s definitely good enough to do that and he has proved he can stay healthy – but you’d like to take some of that off of him and give it to other guys also.”