Christian McCaffrey's return to 49ers from injury is imminent, says Kyle Juszczyk

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SANTA CLARA – It was a welcome sight for loyal 49ers fans and fantasy football fans around the world to see Christian McCaffrey working out at the sideline practice session in San Francisco on Thursday.

Since suffering a mild calf strain, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year has not been seen on the field, even as an observer working on the field. McCaffrey appeared to go through his usual warm-up and then moved on to some light running.

Teammate Kyle Juszczyk believes the star ball carrier is still fully involved and ready for the season and is eager to return to the field with his team.

“He's always super determined,” Juszczyk said after practice on Thursday. “He's always striving for more. It's never enough for him. You can see that it's killing him not to be out there. He's always impatient and reminds me every day that he's getting closer to his goal.”

McCaffrey was a workhorse for the 49ers during the 2023 NFL season, hauling in 272 carries for a league-high 1,459 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. The Stanford product was also effective in the passing game with 67 catches for 564 yards and another seven receiving scores.

Kyle Shanahan has already expressed that the All-Pro's workload needs to be scaled back a bit, but that will be difficult considering how productive McCaffrey is. It might be a little easier to ease some of the load off McCaffrey this coming season considering how effective JP Mason was in training camp, but McCaffrey is still one of the best when it comes to carrying the ball.

Juszczyk believes McCaffrey will have another record-breaking season and can't wait to see the ball carrier clear paths on the field.

“He'll be wearing cleats on the field and being Christian McCaffrey in no time,” Juszczyk said. “He'll be doing his thing and being one of the best players in the world.”

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