Christian McCaffrey injury update: 49ers star RB questionable for Week 1 against Jets

The San Francisco 49ers may have to do without arguably the best running back in the NFL for the season opener against the New York Jets. Christian McCaffrey's participation is questionable for the team as he continues to suffer from calf/Achilles tendon injuries.

McCaffrey, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year, had limited participation in practices on Thursday and Friday.

McCaffrey had missed most of training camp and the entire preseason after suffer a calf strain In early August. In addition to the calf strain, head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed a little more about the back injury and added that McCaffrey is recovering from the Achilles tendon, among other things.

Given McCaffrey's importance to the Niners' offense, his status is an important consideration as the club prepares for its season opener against the Jets on Monday Night Football. The mere fact that McCaffrey is participating in practice – albeit in a limited capacity – is an encouraging sign that he will be fully operational after the throw.

“Christian is doing great,” 49ers GM John Lynch told KNBR's “Murph & Markus” on Friday, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “We were able to finish the week here, but he looks like Christian – and that's a good thing for us. He looked like Christian here at practice. We had a bonus practice because of Monday night [game] and he was there. He was out there yesterday. So Christian looks really good. Obviously we want him to progress throughout the week, but we were confident that Christian would be ready and he's doing very well. He takes incredible care of his body and takes a lot of pride in it. He's going to be out there and ready to go.”

The 28-year-old is coming off a stellar 2023 season in which he was named Offensive Player of the Year and helped San Francisco reach the Super Bowl. He led the league with 1,459 rushing yards and 2,023 total yards from the offensive zone. McCaffrey's 21 total touchdowns also tied him with Miami running back Raheem Mostert for the league lead.