Christian McCaffrey is back from Germany, and now the star 49ers running back will see if he gets the desired effects from the Achilles treatment he received while there.
General manager John Lynch provided an update on McCaffrey's Achilles tendinitis recovery during an appearance on KNBR's "Murph and Markus" show on Friday morning.
"I think the bottom line, we kind of, once we put him to injured reserve, I think that was to kind of force a discipline for everyone that, when you have tendonitis that basically is inflammation and it was flared up," Lynch told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. "Bilateral Achilles tendinitis. And so we needed to quiet it down.
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"So the plan was to give it the time to do that. And then at some point in a thoughtful way, to ramp him back up. So what he does early and where he goes, he's got people who work on his body and have for a long time. We work and consult with him on that and now Christian's back here and at some point, we'll get back, we'll have to hit certain markers and we'll try the ramp up and God willing the thing has quieted down and we can build him back up in a really smart and thoughtful way."
McCaffrey has yet to play during the 2024 NFL season as he deals with calf tightness and Achilles tendinitis. The 49ers placed him on injured reserve before their season-opening win over the New York Jets.
While McCaffrey technically can return after Week 4, he's expected to miss additional time.
As he tries to get a grasp on his injury, McCaffrey, in conjunction with Lynch and the 49ers, decided to fly to Germany to see a specialist.
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"I think Christian knew of someone there," Lynch told hosts Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. "He does a ton of research. Christian, he works as hard as anyone that I that I know and I think obviously he reaches out to us and we blessed it."
But Lynch and the 49ers aren't going to rush back the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
"We got to be really cognizant, of course, we want [Christian] back," Lynch said. "He's a game-changer for us, but we want him back healthy. And so we'll take the necessary time for that, how much it takes. I don't think anyone knows right now and we'll start that process kind of reconvene now that he's back and see where he's at and we'll get a plan together, that plan has been in the process of being made, but we'll put that plan into action and we'll update it when need be on how he's doing.
"But right now we kind of hopefully we've quieted the thing down enough and now we can start the process of building back up."
In McCaffrey's absence, third-year pro Jordan Mason has filled in admirably, rushing for 324 yards in three games, good for the second-most in the NFL after Week 3.
And while Mason has been playing well, the 49ers need McCaffrey back in order for their offense to function at its optimum level.