In Shanahan's weekly presser, he received several questions about McCaffrey. The head coach confirmed that McCaffrey has been making good progress recovering from the tendinitis in both Achilles he has been dealing with.
Shanahan was asked about when he believes a decision will be made about whether McCaffrey will play in Week 10 and he had a very Shanahan-esque response:
"Like, publicly? Kickoff."
The reporter followed up by asking what McCaffrey would need to show Shanahan to let him know he is ready and Shanahan said, "That he's Christian McCaffrey and he's not hurting."
Shanahan got a bit more serious when he talked about hoping McCaffrey was not dealing with too much soreness because that can often portend bad things for gameday when soreness if often much worse.
Shanahan was not any more revealing when asked about whether McCaffrey's potential workload would be similar to what it was last year under the assumption that he is still the McCaffrey of old. Shanahan said, "It definitely could. But it also definitely might not."
Classic Shanahan.
It makes sense why he would want to stay relatively mum about McCaffrey's status. Teams always want to keep their opponents guessing, so any seed of doubt Shanahan can place in the minds of the Bucanneers is going to be beneficial from his point of view.
Reading between the lines though, it seems pretty clear that McCaffrey is going to play on Sunday barring a setback. It seems he has made the requisite progress and is feeling good enough to suit up for the first time this season.
What his workload will be remains a big question. It would be surprising if he gets 20-plus touches in his first action of the season, but this is McCaffrey we are talking about. He is one of the most gifted players in football and has a tenacious work ethic and drive to compete. If he plays and plays well, he may force Shanahan to keep giving the ball to him.
No matter what, it is great that the Niners appear poised to get one of their stars back on the field. Shanahan can play coy all he wants, but everyone is expecting McCaffrey to be out there for his first action of the 2024 season.
