San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey remains focused on his rehab in Santa Clara, working to get back on the practice field while his teammates take a break for the bye week. The hope is that McCaffrey, who has yet to make his 2024 season debut due to Achilles tendinitis, will show promising progress. Still on injured reserve (IR), he could begin practice as soon as Monday if his recovery goes smoothly this week.
If all goes as planned, the 49ers aim to open McCaffrey's practice window next week, potentially setting him up to play in the November 10 road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
General manager John Lynch discussed McCaffrey's status Wednesday morning on Bay Area radio station KNBR.
"The ideal scenario versus Tampa Bay is that he continues to—we keep using this terminology—but ramp up, which just means increase the volume of work that he's doing," Lynch said. "He's been doing that, and he hasn't had any setbacks. The hope is we take it up another notch this week. Provided that goes well, we're kind of opening that window, allowing him to go back to practice. IR players can work to the side. They can't get involved in practice. And so, Christian has been kind of on that plan.
"And now, hopefully, you increase the volume this week. You hope you have no setbacks. I'd expect it to kind of go that way. I pray that it goes that way because he's done really well. He hasn't had any of those [setbacks]. And if so, then Monday, we hope to have him practicing with our team, and that'd be a really good deal for us. We all know he's the reigning Offensive Player of the Year. He's a special game-changing player for us."
Lynch sought to temper expectations, stating, "Now, just opening his window doesn't mean he has to play. We have three weeks then, in which we can activate him, so we'll play this by ear. We'll listen to Christian, we'll listen to the experts, and hopefully, very soon, he's back playing with us on the field. And then, we've got to be judicious about how much we use him, and that's a hard thing to do because he's so darn good."
Lynch is also confident in the 49ers' running back depth if McCaffrey needs a lighter workload initially, citing Jordan Mason and rookie Isaac Guerendo as reliable options. Mason has been dealing with a shoulder injury, making the bye week a timely break for him.
"And then Isaac Guerendo, really showing that he's getting better each week," Lynch said. "You see the explosive speed and power. So we've got some depth there that we can kind of manage Christian back into this thing, provided everything goes well. And just hoping that it continues to go well so we can see him back on the field here soon."
When asked if the team might limit McCaffrey's snaps, Lynch emphasized the importance of doing what's best for the player.
"With a guy like Christian, I think, regardless whether we had guys that could spell him or not, you do what's right for the player," Lynch explained. "That's what we'll always do. There's been a really good plan in place this whole time. We're not there yet. We've got to get there. But those things will start to be—okay, here's what he's done in practice, here's how much volume, provided he's ready to play, that we feel like he can play.
"And then ... we do have the depth where we feel like we can do that. I think if you have Christian out there for five plays, you're a better team. There's a reason we put all that draft capital into trading for him, and I think it's been a good deal for us. I think everybody would say that. So we just want him back on the field, and we'll figure it out from there."
You can listen to Lynch's entire interview below.