Christian McCaffrey injury update: 'Nobody knows when he's coming back'

ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave a grim update on San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey Monday.

Simply put, the return of McCaffrey is a complete unknown. As in, “nobody knows when he’s coming back,” per Schefter.

Included in the “nobody,” McCaffrey himself.

“Well, I think here’s the truth that matters, I don’t think Christian McCaffrey knows when he’s coming back,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I don’t think the 49ers know when he’s coming back. I don’t think anybody knows right now when he’s coming back. Now, they have talked and said that they’re going to begin to ramp up Christian McCaffrey, potentially even this week, starting to get him back to see how he’s feeling. 

“And ideally, you’d like to hope and think that he’s going to be feeling better, that the time off will help. But who knows how his calf and Achilles is going to react? Nobody can say for certain.” 

McCaffrey was placed on IR after Week 1, which means he was set to be out through Week 5.

“Now, I think in their minds, that they’re not thinking season (ending) at all,” Schefter said. “Like he was brought up to Kyle Shanahan last week and he scoffed at that idea to them, the thought of that never has occurred. I would say, of course it should be occurring, because you don’t know what’s going to happen. Nobody knows when he’s coming back. 

“The hope is that when he gets back on the practice field this week, that the pain has decreased, that the treatment he received in Germany, whatever it was, worked, and that the inflammation has calmed down, he feels better, and they get him back here in the coming weeks. Nobody knows whether that’s going to happen or not going to happen.”

McCaffrey, 28, is coming off a season in which he won the AP Offensive Player of the Year Award after posting 1,459 rushing yards, 564 receiving yards and 21 total touchdowns.

San Francisco bounced back with a 30-13 win over the New England Patriots to improve to 2-2 on the season.

In McCaffrey’s absence, Jordan Mason filled in valiantly. He now has 91 carries for 447 yards, three touchdowns and 4.9 yards per carry. Mason already doubled his rushing total from last season in just four games.