“I’m feeling great,” McCaffrey said via ESPN. “It’s been such a smooth process, a lot of hard work. As soon as that injury happened in Buffalo, that was my goal was to not miss a day of OTAs, be back, ready to go with nothing hindering me. And that’s where I’m at.”
For starters, McCaffrey suffered Achilles tendinitis that cost him the first eight games of the season. Then, four weeks later, he injured his right knee against the Buffalo Bills.
He leaped over a defender and landed awkwardly on that knee. As a result, it kept him sidelined for the remainder of the season. While the 49ers missed the playoffs, it allowed the running back to not rush his recovery.
Having two significant lower leg injuries in the same season isn’t easy to deal with.
Christian McCaffrey is ready for the 49ers’ season
As soon as his knee injury began to heal, it was too late. San Francisco missed the playoffs, after making the Super Bowl, the season prior.
Either way, that wasn’t too important to the team regarding McCaffrey. It was about his health.
The running back elaborated more on how quickly his knee recovered.
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“It went by pretty quickly,” McCaffrey said. “I don’t remember the exact date, but I got to a point pretty early in the offseason when I was training full speed, ready to go.”
Going full speed is something the rest of the league doesn’t want to see. After all, McCaffrey took home the 2023-24 Offensive Player of the Year.
He had a historic season, and was a major part of why the 49ers made the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Regardless of the comeback, people still feel he is too injury prone. When hearing those skeptics, it’s only adding more fuel to McCaffrey’s desire to come back better.
“I kind of like the narrative going around because that’s the kind of stuff where you can … prove ’em wrong,” McCaffrey said.
“I think we’ve got a committed team and a team that’s ready to jell together and realize that it’s going to take all of us, and that’s how it should be. I’m excited about that.”
At the end of the day, the 49ers can make some noise in an uneven NFC West. A healthy McCaffrey can make all the difference and allow them to be back in the playoff hunt once again.
