The San Francisco 49ers kicked off the 2024 National Football League regular season with a win over the New York Jets just as they hoped.
Although the win was nice, the 49ers were forced to do so without the services of superstar running back Christian McCaffrey. He has been dealing with a calf and Achilles injury throughout the summer. It forced him to miss the Week 1 victory and his status is up in the air for Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that there's a "real chance" he ends up missing Week 2, as well.
"Jordan Mason is going to start (on Monday)," Schefter said. "Not only is Christian McCaffrey out (on Monday) but there's a real chance he's not going to play on Sunday either. They play on the road at Minnesota on turf in a shorter week. So he's inactive (on Monday) and it looks like there's a real strong possibility that McCaffrey will not play on Sunday against the Vikings."
San Francisco clearly showed that it could win a game without McCaffrey, but if he were to miss significant time, that would have a massive impact on the team's ability to make a run to the Super Bowl. He is one of the most dynamic weapons in football.
The 49ers should be as cautious as possible to get him through this tricky injury so he can be ready to help the team in the long run this season. It's going to be a long season and they will need McCaffrey healthy and ready to go later on.
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