49ers running back Christian McCaffrey looked unimpaired and relatively normal in his second game back from bilateral Achilles tendinitis. The 28-year-old essentially confirmed his health with self-criticism after San Francisco’s crushing 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
“I can be a lot better,” McCaffrey told reporters. “I feel like I can be a lot better. You know, to miss time with injury is always tough; it’s not an excuse. But I know I can be a lot better; I feel it. It’s coming. I just got to get rolling.”
McCaffrey finished the matinee with 106 all-purpose yards -- 19 carries for 79 yards and four receptions for 27 yards. He had 107 all-purpose yards in his 2024 NFL season debut last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Despite being scoreless thus far this season, McCaffrey has looked comfortable making cuts and running unmercifully, which is what the 49ers organization has been hoping for dating back to the past offseason.
“Physically, I feel good,” McCaffrey said. “It’s just [about] getting everything back to normal.”
“Normal” for McCaffrey, as his San Francisco tenure would suggest, is about winning as much as it is health.
The 2023 Offensive Player of the Year took home the honor and serious NFL MVP consideration not only because he collected a total of 2,023 yards and 21 touchdowns, but also because the 49ers finished the 2023 regular season 12-5 and a few plays away from winning Super Bowl LVIII against the dynastic Kansas City Chiefs.
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McCaffrey hammered down the fact postgame that he and his teammates all can find ways to improve after crumbling against the Seahawks and to the pit of the NFC West at 5-5. The running back remained adamant, though, about how much better he should’ve been on Sunday.
“I should feel like that now,” McCaffrey said about returning to peak form. “Each play has a life of its own. Some plays I feel great, some plays I -- even when everything is going well [and] you win by 25, you go back to the film and there’s stuff to correct.
“When you lose, there’s stuff to correct; when you win, there’s stuff to correct. It just hurts worse when you lose. My mindset will be the same. [I] will just go back to the tape and correct what I need to correct [and] get ready for next week.”
San Francisco has plenty to figure out over the final seven weeks. The special-teams unit has been rough, and the entire team collectively has been inconsistent.
Fortunately for the 49ers, and especially for coach Kyle Shanahan who deals with the brunt of the team’s itinerary, McCaffrey isn’t a concern. Instead, he was an illumination during San Francisco’s bleak collapse against Seattle and appears to be normal after being hard on himself during postgame availability.