Week 1 against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football is approaching for the San Francisco 49ers. It will be their first step to return to the Super Bowl again. Thankfully they will have Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams on hand for it with their holdouts over. The 49ers will enter their matchup with the Jets in a strong and healthy form. Well, they will be nearly healthy. That is because the 49ers provided a startling injury update for star running back Christian McCaffrey.
49ers Provide a Startling Injury Update for Christian McCaffrey
On Thursday, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan gave the first injury report for Week 1. When he arrived at McCaffrey’s name on the list, he specified that his injury was a calf/Achilles. It was a startling injury update for McCaffrey. Anytime a player gets linked to an Achilles, it is always cause for concern. Having McCaffrey listed on the report was surprising. He was always going to be on it since he’s been nursing a calf injury. It’s what Shanahan has cited for the last month with McCaffrey. That is why he didn’t play in the preseason and was out for a chunk of training camp.
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So, as soon as he cited an Achilles, it was an eye-opener. Does that mean Shanahan was hiding the injury this whole time? Or is it a case of the calf and the Achilles going hand in hand? It wouldn’t be surprising if it was the latter. Calf strains or tightness tend to link with the Achilles. Either way, for arguably the best player on the 49ers to be dealing with that is startling. That is an injury that is going to be closely monitored all season long. Should McCaffrey be limited or miss games because of it, then the 49ers have an excellent alternative.
Jordan Mason has been an ascending player for the 49ers. He can shoulder some of the workload for the 49ers without the offense dropping off. That is probably what the 49ers should do to keep McCaffrey upright regardless of his calf/Achilles. For the 49ers’ sake, they better hope they can manage it well and that his calf/Achilles doesn’t worsen.
Main Photo Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
