Christian McCaffrey has been ruled out of the San Francisco 49ers' next NFL outing on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. The star running back has been carrying Achilles and calf injuries which saw him miss out on the 49ers' NFL season-opening clash against the New York Jets.
The San Francisco-based side prevailed 32–19 on Monday but McCaffrey's injury has since caused a huge storm. Head coach Kyle Shanahan recently revealed that the star running back is struggling deeply and the side is now considering putting him on Injured reserve.
Shanahan told reporters on Friday that McCaffrey's 'worst day' dealing with the injury was on Thursday and they will discuss the road ahead with the player.
"(Injured reserve) is something we are considering now. Yesterday was his worst day. It's on and off but with him having the worst pain yesterday, it's something we are going to be discussing in the next 24 hours," the 49ers coach said.
Christian McCaffrey ruled out vs. Vikings.Final @DignityHealth injury report for #SFvsMIN: https://t.co/QlhT3VvdC0pic.twitter.com/PSWQdI3HTp
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 13, 2024
For the unversed, the NFL had also issued a statement after they made an investigation regarding the injury status of the player, with the league finding nothing suspicious.
"We have looked into the 49ers’ reporting of the playing status of Christian McCaffrey for the team’s Monday night game against the New York Jets. We have found no evidence of a violation of the league’s injury report policy in this matter," the NFL statement read via the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.
Christian McCaffrey had to skip training on Friday after taking part in limited practice sessions two days before. Should the 49ers be put McCaffrey on IR, then he would be required to miss four matches. If the 49ers indeed make the announcement before the Vikings' game, then the RB would be eligible to return Oct. 10 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Last year, Christian led the NFL with 1,459 rushing yards and he has also recorded four 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 91 games, out of which 84 he played from the start for the Carolina Panthers and the 49ers.
Jordan Mason will once again be the main ball carrier for the 49ers in their next outing against the Vikings.