Christian McCaffrey, the top running back for the San Francisco 49ers, might have a similar ending to a season that started on the injured list.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan informed reporters that McCaffrey had injured the posterior cruciate ligament in his knee when he left the 49ers’ 35-10 loss to Buffalo in Week 13 in the second quarter and never came back. Shanahan said that McCaffrey’s injury might terminate the season because they still have five games left.
According to reports, McCaffrey will get an MRI on Monday.
McCaffrey took a toss with 11:23 remaining in the second quarter and went to his right, but instead of being hit, he looked crippled and slid. It was unclear if the injury was brought on by that particular play.
After missing the first eight games of the season due to Achilles tendonitis in both legs, McCaffrey played in his third game on Sunday. According to reports, he had gone to Germany to get his legs treated.
Ed, the former Super Bowl-winning receiver and McCaffrey’s father, claimed on a podcast that tendinitis was a result of overtraining.
As Ed McCaffrey stated in October on the “Ross Tucker Football Podcast,” “Christian’s weakness is that he sometimes has to protect himself from himself, in terms of training too much and doing too much.”
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It is a serious setback to lose McCaffrey at the beginning of the season and possibly at the end as well. Last season, the 49ers led the league in yards per offensive play and second in points per game thanks to McCaffrey’s ability to run and catch passes out of the backfield. He was named the NFL’s 2023 Offensive Player of the Year.
Although the 49ers’ start this season was hindered by injuries to other San Francisco standouts, such as tight end George Kittle and receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, McCaffrey’s absence took away one of the league’s most dynamic threats, whose gravity, as defenses focused on him, frequently created openings for teammates. The 49ers have struggled to a 5-7 record without McCaffrey for most of the season.
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