Even before their error-strewn defeat to the Minnesota Vikings, it was a bad news day for the San Francisco 49ers.
Prior to the Niners' 23-17 road defeat to the Vikings, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport reported that Christian McCaffrey, who was on Saturday placed on injured reserve with a calf injury and Achilles tendinitis, could be out for six weeks, if not more.
McCaffrey can be activated from IR after four games on the sideline. However, rather than providing a reassuring statement when asked about the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, head coach Kyle Shanahan instead offered a worrying one regarding when the star running back might return.
"Nobody knows," Shanahan said of a potential return date for McCaffrey. "We're dealing with tendinitis, not one person knows, he doesn't know, we don't know, and we take it day by day.
"By putting him on IR, it's at least four weeks, so that'll give him some time to rest, kind of protect him from himself, us too. No matter how he's feeling, it's four at the minimum."
After missing the Vikings game, McCaffrey will definitely be out for the Week 3 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams and subsequent games with the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals.
George Kittle, who found the endzone in an historic day for the tight end , summed up what the 49ers are missing without McCaffrey.
Kittle told a press conference: "Christian is the offensive MVP for a reason, he was in the MVP voting for a reason, he had 20-plus touchdowns for a reason because he does it all, in the pass game, in the run game.
"It's really fun because Deebo [Samuel] and him are just interchangeable, you'll have Christian running routes and then all of a sudden you put a MIKE linebacker on him and Deebo's in the backfield, you have no idea what you're going to get. It just gives us another dimension."
Even without that extra dimension, the 49ers still moved the ball to the tune of 399 total yards and running back Jordan Mason had his second successive 100-yard game on the ground.
However, only four of those total yards were passing yards to a running back, providing a statistical illustration of the impact of the loss of McCaffrey on the passing game.
In a game in which Purdy came under constant fire in the second half as the Vikings' extremely aggressive pass rush found more success, the lack of a passing game outlet from the backfield was extremely telling.
The 49ers don't know how long they'll be without that outlet and extra dimension and, after a game in which San Francisco failed to take chances to win a one-score game without him, the lack of clarity is very concerning.
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