Christian McCaffrey (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The San Francisco 49ers will be without superstar running back Christian McCaffrey much longer than expected.

Christian McCaffrey missed the 49ers’ season opener against the New York Jets on Monday night with a calf and Achilles injury. The expectation was that he wouldn’t miss much, if any, more time after that.

But according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan stated that Thursday was McCaffrey’s “worst day health wise” in terms of pain.” Shanahan added that the injured reserve is a possibility for the reigning rushing champion, which would force him to miss a minimum of four games.

McCaffrey was ruled out for the team’s Week 2 road game against the Minnesota Vikings, meaning Jordan Mason will get the start again at running back after a tremendous performance against the Jets (147 rushing yards and one touchdown in a 32-19 victory).

#49ers coach Kyle Shanahan says that RB Christian McCaffrey had his worst day health wise yesterday in terms of pain. IR is now under consideration, which would mean missing at least the next four games.

— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) September 13, 2024

After visiting the Vikings on Sunday, the 49ers visit the Los Angeles Rams before returning to the West Coast for a two-game home stand vs. the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots.

---

The 49ers visit the Seattle Seahawks on “Thursday Night Football” in Week 7 before coming home for a Super Bowl 59 rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs. So if “Run CMC” is played on the IR before Sunday, he’d be eligible to return against Seattle.

The 1.01 pick in terms of ESPN ADP over the last 5 years:

2020 Christian McCaffrey: 13 games missed, 6 total TD
2021 Christian McCaffrey: 10 games missed, 2 total TD
2022 Jonathan Taylor: 6 games missed, 4 total TD
2023 Justin Jefferson: 7 games missed, 6 total TD
2024 Christian…

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 13, 2024

Unfortunately, long-term injuries aren’t new for Christian McCaffrey. He appeared in just 10 total games over the 2020 and 2021 seasons (three games played in 2020 and seven in 2021).

49ers Have Enough Weaponry To Survive Without Christian McCaffrey

It’s not ideal that the 49ers will likely be without the league’s best running back for multiple weeks. This offense has reached another level since McCaffrey arrived in a blockbuster move ahead of the 2022 trade deadline, after all.

But the 49ers can at least survive without McCaffrey for a short period of time. They have three superstar pass-catchers in Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle and a quality understudy at RB in Mason. For San Fran, the important thing is having McCaffrey ready and healthy for the postseason.