49ers Must Brace for Possible McCaffrey Absence

The San Francisco 49ers are going to face a very tough game, as they could end up without their star Christian McCaffrey. Last week saw McCaffrey traveling to Germany for specialized treatment on his injured Achilles, so it is evident the injury is not healing any faster than was originally thought. With the team needing to game plan for games going forward, they need to know how they would have to adjust the game plan if their star running back cannot return this season.

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Knowledge of the Injury

McCaffrey has an Achilles injury, which puts him on Injured Reserve. That’s an automatic four-game set minimum, and he’ll be eligible to return soon, but injuries like these can be tricky. They also normally take much time in recovery, and coming back early may even exacerbate the injury. According to 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan, McCaffrey is seeing a specialist, which raises the possibility that the injury may be worse than what was thought of. This development raises doubts over whether McCaffrey will return to the field this season with the way the 49ers are preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Alternative Solutions

If McCaffrey misses the whole season, it will indeed be a woeful situation for the 49ers; they need to rely heavily on their backup running backs. Jordan Mason has proven to be more of a workhorse and has shown that he can get the job done, but he is hardly as versatile as McCaffrey, mainly because he cannot catch as many passes.

McCaffrey is a back who catches passes and makes plays when it matters most, like on third downs. Although Mason has shown some promise, the loss of McCaffrey’s special skill set will be felt on this team. The 49ers have to create a game plan so they can play to Mason’s strength and reduce the impact of losing McCaffrey. In this case, the 49ers should make changes in their offense if they are going to survive without McCaffrey.

One would think to go more heavily into the running game and try to pound out runs with the depth of their offensive line, creating lines in a running game. That may help take pressure off whoever is at quarterback for shorter, safer throws. The team still can go pretty wide and create big mismatches with guys like Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings. However, it is through adjustments in the playbook that the 49ers will benefit from these strengths during this tricky situation.

Conclusion

This season for the 49ers will be the first season without Christian McCaffrey, and they will need to prepare for playing without him at some point in the season. He has to be closely monitored in his injury, and the team must be ready to respond. Indeed, he might prove to be a great loss to the team, but the possibility of other people standing up to fill his shoes is real.

The possibilities can either be in maximizing the new ways of using the talent in the current squad or studying potential moves in the future roster. But they still have their opportunities for the season to end on a good note, though, as it seems that they are already taking a more aggressive attitude.

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This article was written by Ifra Tabassum