San Francisco 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey could make his season debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are dealing with a number of injuries to key players on both sides of the ball. As a matter of fact, not many other NFL teams can match the injury report that the Bucs release on a weekly basis these days.
The San Francisco 49ers won't hear any of that.
They've been without star running back Christian McCaffrey all season. But that could change on Sunday in Tampa. McCaffrey has returned to practice this week and is expected to make his season debut at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.
San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy is ecstatic at his running back's return to practice this week.
“Just what he brings to the table and really just firing everybody else up, all of us coming off the bye week, and feeling good and fresh. And then you get 23 next to you in the backfield, it’s been awesome,” Purdy said, via the team’s website. “Looks great moving around, and he’s trending in the right direction. So we’re excited to see what happens.”
Although they've missed McCaffrey, the 49ers still rank No.4 in the league in rushing, No. 2 in total yards and No. 6 in points scored.
Adding McCaffrey back to the offensive fold will put more stress on the Buccaneers' already struggling defense, but Purdy will be glad to see him back on the field.
“But more than anything, we have really good playmakers across the board, and we’re going to try to get the ball into all our guys’ hands at the right time, in the right situation,” Purdy said. “It’s always nice, though, knowing that I can go through my read and come back down to Christian.”
