Christian McCaffrey is expressing optimism that he will be able to play for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday after a surprise absence in their Week 1 win over the New York Jets.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, McCaffrey said his “mentality is I’m playing this week” against the Minnesota Vikings as he continues to recover from an issue with his calf and Achilles.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters McCaffrey will participate in practice on Wednesday and the team has “never considered” placing him on injured reserve.
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, McCaffrey is considered a “long shot” to play against the Vikings.
McCaffrey is expected to be limited in Wednesday’s practice. The details around his injury have been difficult to parse out. He missed two weeks early in training camp due to a calf injury.
49ers general manager John Lynch said on the Sept. 6 episode of Friday on KNBR’s Murph & Markus show (h/t Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area) that McCaffrey was “looking really good” at practice and would “out there and ready to roll” against the Jets in Week 1.
The Niners’ injury report leading up to Week 1 noted McCaffrey was limited in practice with a calf and Achilles designation. Shanahan said the Achilles issue was nothing new and was related to the calf issue.
Jordan Mason, who filled in as the starter against the Jets, told ESPN’s Lisa Salters after the game he said he knew “maybe Friday night” he would be in the lineup. Shanahan said during his postgame press conference he never told Mason he was going to start until McCaffrey was ruled out, but he did inform the third-year back to “be ready” for an expanded role.
McCaffrey originally suffered a strained calf last season in San Francisco’s Week 17 win over the Washington Commanders. He sat out the regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Rams, but started all three playoff games for the 49ers.
If the 49ers have to give McCaffrey another week off to recover, Mason proved he’s more than capable of handling an increased workload. The 25-year-old ran for 147 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries in a 32-19 win over the Jets.
McCaffrey led the NFL in rushing yards (1,459) yards from scrimmage (2,023) and total touchdowns (21) last season en route to being named Offensive Player of the Year.
The 49ers and Vikings will play at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
