While it’s still unknown if Christian McCaffrey will be able to take the field Sunday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said he never considered putting his star running back on injured reserve.
McCaffrey, who was a late scratch for their season-opening win against the New York Jets with a calf injury, appears to be on the cusp of returning for their matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.
“I was considering him to play last week, so definitely not thinking about four weeks off,” Shanahan said Wednesday.
The 49ers announced that McCaffrey was inactive for their 32-19 win over the Jets on Monday night just before kickoff. McCaffrey was initially listed as questionable for the contest with his lingering calf injury, and his calf “still was tight” when he went in for treatment on Monday.
McCaffrey first injured his calf in training camp in August, but Shanahan had long said he was on track to play in Week 1. He just wasn’t quite ready to do so when it came down to it.
McCaffrey practiced with the 49ers on Wednesday, though he did so on a limited basis. That, Shanahan said, was a positive sign. It’s unclear what his practices will look like the rest of the week before the team flies to Minneapolis.
While he didn’t clarify his status any, McCaffrey is at least acting as if he’ll be out on the field Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“My mentality is I’m playing this week,” he said. “That’s how I am every week. I’m not lying. I think as soon as a player says, ‘maybe I’ll play, maybe I won’t,’ that’s not a good mentality to go into a week with when you’re kind of on the fence. So for me, I’m ready to go.”
If McCaffrey can’t play against the Vikings on Sunday, the 49ers will likely turn to Jordan Mason to shoulder most of the load again. Mason racked up 147 rushing yards and a touchdown on 28 carries in the win over the Jets.
While they’d much rather have McCaffrey out there, Mason has proven he can hold things down in the meantime.
“When it is acting up, it’s something you have to be careful about,” Shanahan said of McCaffrey’s injury, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Christian is very diligent about that stuff. If it was a playoff game [on Monday], he made it very clear to me, he believes he could go.”