Schefter: "Strong Possibility" Christian McCaffrey Misses Week 2

By Jared Smola | Updated on Tue, Sep 10 2024 12:02 PM UTC

ESPN's Adam Schefter said prior to Monday Night Football that there's a "strong possibility" 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (calf, Achilles) misses Week 2's game against the Vikings. According to Schefter, McCaffrey pulled himself out of Friday's practice with soreness in his calf area and was still experiencing tightness on Monday.

What They're Saying

Schefter: "They decided, in the interest of it being a long season, to hold him out [of the Jets game.] ... And not only is Christian McCaffrey out tonight, but there's a real chance he's not gonna play on Sunday either. They play on the road at Minnesota on turf in a shorter week."

HC Kyle Shanahan after the win over the Jets: "He didn't have a setback. It was on and off throughout the week. He was able to practice throughout the week. It was always bothering him to some degree. Sometimes it goes away, sometimes it comes back and today it was bothering him a little too much to where we didn’t feel good about it.”

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

It's majorly concerning that this calf/Achilles injury has been bothering McCaffrey for over a month now. Shanahan's comments seem to suggest that the team has not been able to figure out how to fix the issue.

Shanahan also shot down Schefter's report that McCaffrey will likely miss Week 2 -- but it's tough to trust Shanahan on this situation at this point.

We'll obviously keep a close eye on CMC's status throughout the week, but owners should be lining up backup plans in case he misses another game.

Other Winners & Losers

RB Jordan Mason turned in a massive outing in McCaffrey's place in the win over the Jets, toting it 28 times for 147 yards and a score. Mason played 81% of San Francisco's offensive snaps.

He's clearly the top add where available and will be an easy top-20 RB play in Week 2 if McCaffrey is out again.

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and in-season tools. He currently ranks ninth among 173 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.