SANTA CLARA — Running back Christian McCaffrey is back on the practice field.
And if everything goes smoothly for the rest of the week, McCaffrey could suit up and make his season debut for the 49ers on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 49ers on Monday opened the practice window for McCaffrey and designated him for return off the injured reserve list as he returns from Achilles tendinitis in both legs. San Francisco also opened the practice window for veteran offensive lineman Jon Feliciano, whom the club placed on injured reserve on Aug. 28 with a knee injury.
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He’s baaaaack 😈 pic.twitter.com/29rETUJmzo
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 4, 2024
CMC breaks down the huddle in his first practice back 🤝 pic.twitter.com/OxT2GLpKiM
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 4, 2024
There goes that man pic.twitter.com/lnA7SpWfSY
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 4, 2024
Both wide receiver Jauan Jennings and kicker Jake Moody also were on hand for the early portion of Monday's practice.
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McCaffrey has experienced no setbacks in his physical therapy over the past month and has not practiced since Thursday, Sept. 12, when he aggravated his Achilles tendinitis and was placed on injured reserve two days later.
He was listed as questionable for San Francisco's season-opener on Sept. 9 against the New York Jets but was announced as one of the team’s inactive players 90 minutes before kickoff.
McCaffrey traveled to Germany in late-September to receive treatment on both Achilles tendons. The 49ers placed him on a conservative program to ramp up his conditioning.
Coach Kyle Shanahan described the 49ers’ bye week as an important step toward getting him back on the field.
“He's had no setbacks, so it looks like we're on track,” Shanahan said last Monday. “He's going to hit it hard this week while we're gone and kind of simulate some practice stuff for himself. And as long as it all goes good, hopefully we'll get him back in practice next week.”
The 49ers enter the second half of the season with a 4-4 record.
McCaffrey is coming off a season in which he led the NFL in yards from scrimmage and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
He rushed for 1,459 yards and 14 touchdowns while catching 67 passes for 564 yards and seven touchdowns.
McCaffrey experienced a similar calf/Achilles injury in Week 17 of last season against Washington.
With the 49ers’ No. 1 seed in the NFC clinched, he sat out the final regular season game and played in each of San Francisco's three postseason games.
The 49ers rewarded McCaffrey in June with a two-year contract extension that is scheduled to pay him $62.2 million over four years through the 2027 NFL season.
San Francisco has gotten good production out of the running game through eight games even without McCaffrey.
Jordan Mason is on pace to be the 49ers’ seventh different leading rusher in the past eight seasons. He has 685 yards and three touchdowns on 134 rushing attempts. He is averaging 5.1 yards per attempt.
Rookie Isaac Guerendo has come on strong in recent weeks, rushing for 227 yards with a 6.1-yard average. Guerendo has one rushing touchdown and has passed up two touchdowns with late-game slides deep in opponents’ territory.
The areas where McCaffrey’s absence has been felt the most are in the passing game and in the red zone. The team’s running backs have combined for just 15 catches totaling 120 yards.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 18 touchdowns inside the red zone.
The 49ers led the league with touchdowns on 68 percent of their trips inside the red zone. This season without McCaffrey, the 49ers are 27th with touchdowns on just 48.6 percent of their red-zone possessions.