Christian McCaffrey did not play Monday night, in a shocking move to just about everyone but the people inside the building. Jordan Mason’s response that he found out he would start Friday raised some eyebrows about the way the 49ers reported McCaffrey’s injury.
Kyle Shanahan was pretty tight-lipped about injury questions Wednesday afternoon. He said McCaffrey would be limited in practice (as he was every day last week), and was asked whether that’s a positive sign.
“I’m not a doctor either, but I think that’s positive,” Shanahan said. “I do agree, but I’m not a doctor… No, I would never consider that. I was considering him to play last week, so definitely not thinking about four weeks off.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday night that McCaffrey could miss Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Wednesday, “is a long shot to play this week.”
Keep in mind that the Vikings, and the 49ers’ next opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, both play on turf fields. Would the 49ers just wait until after the facing the Rams (who put Puka Nacua, and starting offensive linemen Joe Noteboom and Steve Avila on injured reserve Wednesday) to return McCaffrey? We shall see.
Elsewhere, Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) and Dee Winters (ankle) will still remain out of practice, while Aaron Banks (calf) and Jauan Jennings (ankle) should be limited.
The 49ers also made a practice squad move, signing veteran tackle Chris Hubbard and cutting defensive lineman Jonathan Garvin.