Programming note: Watch Greg Papa's full "Game Plan" interview with John Lynch at 9 p.m. PT Friday on NBC Sports Bay Area.
It appears Christian McCaffrey is nearing his long-awaited 49ers return.
As San Francisco enjoys its much-needed bye week, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year is hard at work preparing for a potential return in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
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After 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told local reporters earlier this week the team hopes to open McCaffrey's 21-day practice window Monday for the team's bonus practice, president of football operations/general manager John Lynch confirmed as much to Greg Papa on the latest episode of "49ers Game Plan," while detailing the cautious approach the team has taken with McCaffrey's ramp-up process this season.
"That's the hope," Lynch told Papa about potentially opening McCaffrey's practice window on Monday. "As we've done throughout this whole [process], you listen to the experts, you listen to the athlete, to Christian, more than anything because the athlete, the person, knows their body better than anyone. They can feel what they're feeling. But I can tell people this, that the rehab has been very positive.
"We had a really good plan to knock this out, so he can go forward and have this behind him. Christian's work ethic is beyond anything I've ever seen, it's like the Fred Warners, it's legendary. He's attacked it like that. I'm real proud of our medical staff, the way they've done it."
Even if McCaffrey does practice Monday, he still would have hurdles to clear throughout the week leading up to the Nov. 10 game against the Bucs before the 49ers would consider activating him.
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"And like I said, you need to build volume up, because you don't just need to run without pain, you've got to be able to handle the rigors," Lynch explained to Papa. "And that's the hard thing, on IR you can't go have somebody simulate [Tampa Bay Buccanneers defensive tackle] Vita Vea tackling you ... so you try and simulate it as much as you can and you hope there's no setbacks. The good news is, to this point, there haven't been any.
"He'll be here [this week] during the bye week working, continuing to work. We'll simulate a game week in terms of volume as much as possible, and provided there's no setbacks, we're hoping to have him back on Monday in practice. And that's just opening his window. Does that mean playing vs. Tampa? No. We'll see where that goes."
McCaffrey, as Lynch alluded to, has almost a maniacal work ethic, and takes his work on and off the field very seriously.
As evidenced by him putting in work at the facility while his teammates enjoy time off during the bye week.
If McCaffrey can practice and clear all remaining hurdles over the next week-plus, there's a good chance the 49ers' best offensive weapon will make his 2024 season debut in Tampa.
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