The question of whether or not new San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey will play on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs has been answered. McCaffrey learned the Carolina Panthers were trading him to the 49ers late Thursday night. He was in Santa Clara in time for the team's Friday afternoon practice and even participated.
That's not a lot of time to learn his new playbook. However, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, McCaffrey is expected to play.
New #49ers RB Christian McCaffrey is expected to play on Sunday vs. the #Chiefs, despite only being acquired late on Thursday night in a trade.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 23, 2022
"The 49ers have a package of plays in their gameplan for McCaffrey," ESPN's Adam Schefter added shortly after Rapoport's tweet.
Christian McCaffrey, who was traded to San Francisco late Thursday night and flew to his new employer Friday, is expected to make his 49ers debut today vs. the Chiefs, per sources. The 49ers have a package of plays in their gameplan for McCaffrey.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 23, 2022
Schefter went on-air after sending his tweet, saying, "They put him out to practice Friday. They put him out [in walk-throughs] today. He's picked up things faster than they thought he would. It's not a huge package of plays, but they do have plays in there for him. He is going to be out there tomorrow. He is going to be playing."
McCaffrey was lobbying to get some time on the field with his new teammates in this weekend's game but understood the decision was ultimately up to his new coaches.
"You can process a lot in two days, and figure out a lot in a short amount of time, and hopefully be ready to go," McCaffrey said on Friday. "... It's just my job to learn as much as humanly possible in the next two days and get ready to play a football game."
McCaffrey added, "I'm trying to get the playbook down. That's the only thing I'm focused on. Going to help this team win a lot of football games, hopefully. That's where my mind is."
The main hurdle isn't necessarily learning the plays but learning the language in head coach Kyle Shanahan's playbook.
"You've just got to learn the language," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. "At the end of the day, that's the only thing that's going to slow a new guy from getting on the field, is understanding what the language means. Like, when a play is called, what does that tell you? So if he can pick that up, at least for a few plays, I'm sure they'll find a way to get him mixed in there."