As of Thursday afternoon, all signs point to Christian McCaffrey making his 2024 NFL season debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

McCaffrey missed the 49ers’ first eight games of the season with bilateral Achilles tendinitis but returned to the practice field on Monday and has practiced without issue for three consecutive sessions, a promising indicator he will return to the field on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Neither McCaffrey nor 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan have confirmed the All-Pro running back’s status for the game, but former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman, a fellow Stanford product who is friends with McCaffrey, recently spoke with the 49ers star about whether he will play against Tampa Bay.

“Yeah, I heard it from the horse’s mouth,” Sherman told co-host Mitch Eisenstein on the “Richard Sherman Podcast.” “He feels really good, and he felt like he could have probably played last week, but they wanted to be overly cautious and just give him more weeks of practice and more time to work that thing out to feel comfortable, and feel confident, and he does.

“Nothing’s like game reps and until he gets out there in a game and is able to cut and get the adrenaline going and feel himself throughout a ballgame, he’s still going to have to knock the rust off in-game. Football’s a really fast game, a really violent game. Very few people can come in and say ‘Hey, I’m putting on pads and I’m going to be the player I was when I was Offensive Player of the Year [in my] first game into the season.”

Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday that McCaffrey’s status for Sunday’s game likely won’t be confirmed until hours before kickoff. However, barring a setback, it’s become increasingly clear that McCaffrey should return.

“All signs point to him playing, and likely playing a significant role in this game,” Sherman added.

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