San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey missed the first eight games of the 2024 season due to bilateral Achilles tendonitis.
Now it looks like McCaffrey's 2024 campaign may be over entirely.
McCaffrey scored early in the second quarter in the 49ers' eventual 35-10 loss at the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. The 5-foot-11, 210-pound running back took a pitch from quarterback Brock Purdy but was lame at the snap.
McCaffrey slid onto the court at Highmark Stadium with a non-contact injury.
The 49ers initially considered McCaffrey questionable, but downgraded the star running back to being out with a knee injury.
Afterwards, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that they feared McCaffrey had suffered a potentially season-ending PCL injury.
Kyle Shanahan said Christian McCaffrey suffered a potentially season-ending PCL injury.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter)
“Yes, it was frustrating. You know, he had a great week of training and I could feel his urgency and stuff. I thought he came out great, looked really good and looked like he had just given his best. He was about to cancel a home visit. I suspect he injured himself on this play. I don't know. I never got to talk to him, but it hurt him and it was hard on our team not having him,” Shanahan said.
McCaffrey finished Sunday night's loss with 53 rushing yards on seven carries and two receptions for 14 yards.
This season, McCaffrey has 50 rushing runs for 202 rushing yards and caught 15 passes for 146 yards in four games.
This follows McCaffrey's NFL Offensive Player of the Year season with the 49ers a season ago. In his first full season in San Francisco in 2023, McCaffrey amassed 1,459 rushing yards, 564 receiving yards and 21 total touchdowns.
