49ers running Christian McCaffrey’s status for Monday night’s bout with the Minnesota Vikings is very much in question. The star RB is dealing with an oblique injury he suffered in Week 6. While he’s considered day-to-day, his absences from the first two days of practice leading up to Week 7 aren’t encouraging.
Despite the missed practices, McCaffrey wants head coach Kyle Shanahan to move forward as though he’ll play per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.
Wagoner on Friday posted a tweet that said McCaffrey’s intent is to play Monday night regardless of whether he participates in any sessions during the week of practice.
It guarantees nothing in terms of his availability for Monday night but earlier this week, #49ers RB Christian McCaffrey asked Kyle Shanahan to not take anything out of game plan and to prepare for McCaffrey to play, even if he doesn't take practice reps.
His intent is clear.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) October 20, 2023
This isn’t a huge surprise. McCaffrey will obviously want to play, but the decision will ultimately come down to whether team doctors clear him to play and whether he’s healthy enough to function at 100 percent.
He’s yet to miss a game since joining the 49ers in Week 7 of last season. McCaffrey did deal with a knee issue through most of the second half of last year, but it was managed during the week of practice to ensure his readiness for game day.
Shanahan will need to prepare for McCaffrey’s absence no matter how much the RB intends on playing. The team can’t be completely derailed by McCaffrey not playing, so there’ll need to be preparation that involves Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason taking on all of the work just in case. It’s unclear which player would be the “starter,” but it would make sense if they played both in some kind of time share. Mitchell has a longer track record in the 49ers’ offense, but Mason has been better this season.
The good news for McCaffrey and the 49ers is that they have until Monday to get the RB healthy. There’ll be an official status report for Monday released Saturday. Unless McCaffrey is ruled out then, there’ll be a chance right up to game time that he goes.
