San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has had his fair share of injuries over the past several years, which is why it’s understandable that there’s growing concern after he missed yet another training camp practice.
However, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t worried about McCaffrey’s “tightness” and neither should anyone else.
“No,” Shanahan said via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “My concern would be him toughing through tightness, like a lot of people do, and then hurting something bad, and then pulling something, which then, it could be a month. That would be our concern, so once we hear him talking a certain way, Christian’s a guy who needs to get prepared for Week 1. But also, we’re pretty confident in what he’s done before. We’re confident in what he’s done these two weeks, and we just want to make sure we don’t make it something to be concerned about.”
That is certainly reassuring, given McCaffrey’s lengthy injury history, but it will still be something to monitor, nonetheless.
McCaffrey had calf tightness during the team’s 2024 training camp, which carried into the season and limited him to only four games. It was then later announced as Achilles tendinitis and a separate injury to his posterior collateral ligament.
That isn’t to say history is going to repeat itself in 2026, however, there’s no overstating McCaffrey’s value to the 49ers offense.
McCaffrey, 30, led the league with 413 touches last year on his way to being named the 2025 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
The No. 8 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, McCaffrey has rushed for 7,589 yards and 62 touchdowns and reeled in 626 catches for 5,390 yards and 36 more scores in his professional career.