The timeline for Christian McCaffrey’s rehabilitation from Achilles tendinitis remained hazy throughout training camp and the start of the 2024 NFL regular season.
After initially looking ready for Week 1, the 49ers once again placed their star player on IR, and his return is now reportedly scheduled for November.
This irregular schedule has been frustrating for believers. However, the former San Francisco cornerback Richard Sherman — who has dealt with numerous Achilles and leg injuries throughout his career — explained Monday why fans should remain calm while waiting for McCaffrey to recover.
Patience is a virtue, he said in the last episode of the program “Niner Believers.” “Richard Sherman Podcast.” “Don’t sit here trying to figure out when Christian will come back. Be patient. I guarantee he’s not trying to take advantage of this.”
Not only can Sherman relate to McCaffrey’s physical ailment, but they come from similar backgrounds to the Stanford products as well. So, if fans are going to listen to anyone outside of the 49ers organization for input, Sherman would probably be a good start.
“An Achilles tendon injury is one of those injuries that is touch and go,” Sherman continued. “I speak from experience, I had a ruptured Achilles tendon and Achilles tendinitis in the other ankle.”
Explaining potential rehab from an Achilles injury, Sherman noted that McCaffrey couldn’t simply receive an injection to ease the pain.
“That’s one thing you should know,” Sherman explained. “Everyone says, ‘Man, why can’t you just shoot a shot?’ “You cannot put a cortisone injection into the Achilles tendon. It will weaken it and tear it.”
From that personal experience, the five-time All-Pro agrees with the cautious approach the 49ers are taking with McCaffrey, who already has a significant injury history.
“It’s not worth it. They’re playing it as straight as they can,” Sherman explained. “They’re taking their time to let him go get the treatments he can get, because…no matter how tough you want to be, you have to be tougher than your brain and you have to send signals to your brain that you’re okay.”
“Everyone is different. So, if you hear from an expert, ‘Oh, he can come back here’ or ‘He won’t even come back here,’ they won’t know, because no one knows. He might wake up tomorrow and feel very good and be able to Run again, and then he might wake up the next day and feel really good and be able to run again and walk.
“That’s how crazy this injury and the seizures are.”
This back-and-forth pattern described by Sherman is certainly consistent with what has been reported about McCaffrey in recent weeks. So, while this won’t be easy for 49ers fans to hear, they’ll need to be patient — just as Sherman warns.
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