SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey is questionable for the season opener after hurting his calf at practice this week.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said McCaffrey got injured during practice on Thursday and wasn't able to practice with the team at all on Friday. He was doing some work on the side during the open portion of practice.
Coach Kyle Shanahan declined to get into any details about McCaffrey other than saying he would be questionable. But McCaffrey said he plans to play Sunday at Seattle.
“Nothing serious, I’ll tell you that," McCaffrey said. "Like I said, I feel great about where I’m at. Unfortunately when you have the injury history that I have, sometimes when you don’t practice, things get blown out of proportion. But like I said, I feel great.”
McCaffrey missed almost all of training camp last season with what the team initially called a calf injury. He was expected to be ready for the start of the season, but was a late scratch for that game with what was called bilateral Achilles tendinitis.
McCaffrey went to Germany to see a specialist and missed the first eight games of the season. He returned to play four games before going down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 13.
McCaffrey was back healthy for the offseason program and looked like his old self all summer.
McCaffrey transformed San Francisco’s offense after being acquired midway through the 2022 season in a trade from Carolina. He helped the team reach the NFC title game that season and then did even more in 2023 in his first full season with the Niners.
McCaffrey won the AP Offensive Player of the Year that season after leading the NFL with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and tying for the league lead with 21 touchdowns.
McCaffrey had missed just one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game in the 2023 season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf — after missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina.
If McCaffrey can't go, the Niners will likely turn to recently acquired Brian Robinson, who joined the team last week following a trade from Washington. Robinson has been rushing to learn the offense and would likely share the rushing with Isaac Guerendo.
“Brian knows the game plan,” Shanahan said. “He got it in this week. You don’t have to know an entire offense. You got to know what the plan is this week and he’s repped at it. So that’s the situation, we’re good to go with it, he’s ready for it and I know Isaac will be also.”
Receiver Jauan Jennings is set to play for the 49ers after missing almost all of training camp with a calf injury and in a contract dispute. The Niners gave Jennings the chance to earn an additional $3 million in playing time incentives earlier this week.
The only other 49ers players with injury designations for the game are rookie running back Jordan James (finger) and rookie receiver Jordan Watkins (ankle), who are both listed as doubtful. Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos has been cleared to play after missing all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list with a knee injury.
The Seahawks ruled out receiver Jake Bobo (concussion), linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (knee) and receiver Dareke Young (hamstring) for the game. Rookie receiver Tory Horton (ankle) is available to play.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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