Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Kyle Madson

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey wants Kyle Shanahan to plan on him playing

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.

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.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.