Will the San Francisco 49ers have arguably the best player on their roster for their highly-anticipated season debut on the national stage?
The 49ers host the New York Jets on Monday Night Football to close out Week 1 of the 2024 season, and they enter the game with some questions on the injury report.
There is no bigger question than the one surrounding Christian McCaffrey and his status for the game. He is the heart of the offense and if he can not go then that limits the 49ers severely.
McCaffrey has been dealing with calf and achilles issues all week and because of that he practiced sparingly. Instead, backup running back Jordan Mason took the majority of snaps in practice.
That might not matter all that much because when asked if the injury will affect him at all for the game he told reporters, “No, not a concern for me.”
Christian McCaffrey said his calf/Achilles is “not a concern for me.” pic.twitter.com/UceeuWarxj
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) September 6, 2024
The most likely outcome for McCaffrey entering this game is that he will be on a snap count and split carries with Mason to keep himself from being overworked in Week 1.
The news that McCaffrey should be good to go, should be a huge sigh of relief for 49ers fans. He is coming off a massive 2023 season that saw him have 1,459 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns on 272 total carries. He also had another 67 receptions for 564 yards and seven touchdowns in the receiving game.
The 49ers enter Monday’s game relatively healthy with McCaffrey seemingly prepared to go. Outside of some uncertainty around McCaffrey, the biggest blow is that safety Talanoa Hufanga has been listed as doubtful due to him recovering from tearing his ACL during Week 11 of last season. It is key for the 49ers to start as healthy as possible on their quest to get back to the Super Bowl.
