49ers' McCaffrey ruled out for Minnesota game; may go on injured reserve
The San Francisco 49ers announced that star running back Christian McCaffrey, who missed the season opener because of injuries, was ruled out of the Week 2 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and could miss additional time.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters Friday that McCaffrey could be considered for a stint on the injured reserve list, which would mean he would miss at least this week plus three more games.
McCaffrey, last season's AP Offensive Player of the Year, has been dealing with a calf injury along with Achilles tendinitis. Shanahan said McCaffrey experienced the most pain he's had on Thursday. He did not practice on Friday and was listed as out in the team's game status report.
"[Injured reserve is] something we're considering now," said Shanahan. "Yesterday was his worst day. It's on and off, but with yesterday having the most pain. It's something we're going to be discussing together in the next 24 hours."
If McCaffrey is placed on the injured reserve list, he would not be eligible to return until the Thursday night Oct. 10 game against the Seattle Seahawks.
The 49ers replaced the 3-time Pro Bowler for the Week 1 game against the New York Jets on Monday night with undrafted 3rd year running back Jordan Mason, who responded with a career game, rushing for 147 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown in a 32-19 victory.
Earlier this week McCaffrey was limited in practice but told reporters his mentality was that he was going to play on Sunday.
"That's how I am every week. I'm not lying," said McCaffrey on Wednesday. "I think as soon as a player says, 'Maybe I'll play, maybe I won't,' that's not a good mentality to go into a week with when you're kind of on the fence."
On Tuesday, Shanahan said McCaffrey was injured early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field last week.
"If it was a playoff game, he made it very clear to me he believed he could go," said Shanahan on Tuesday. "But when you hear that type of stuff and it's not a playoff game and it's Week 1 and especially when you're dealing with the lower extremities like that, it was a tough decision, but hearing all the words in the long run, it made it easy."
With McCaffrey out, the 49ers will again rely on Mason as the starter, with Deebo Samuel likely to get some carries as he did in the Jets game. Rookie Isaac Guerendo and fourth-year veteran Patrick Taylor Jr. are the only other running backs on the roster.
