Christian McCaffrey’s injury was worse than feared. Is the San Francisco 49ers running back now even facing the prospect of missing the season?

Actually, it was just a niggle for running back Christian McCaffrey.

He will have to take it easy for a few weeks, but he will be fit for the start of the season,” announced San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan in the preseason.

As we know, this did not happen. McCaffrey was placed on the injured reserve list, where he will have to stay for at least four weeks.

The emphasis here is on “at least” – recently, there were rumors that McCaffrey could even miss the entire season.

CMC is traveling to Germany due to injury

Head Coach Shanahan was confronted with this at the press conference on Wednesday. “There is no update on him,” the 44-year-old said curtly. “I haven’t spoken to him.”

Will ‘CMC’ now be out for the whole season? ‘Not that I know of,’ Shanahan was again tight-lipped. It’s quite possible that he knows more but doesn’t want to say more.

McCaffrey is suffering from an Achilles tendon injury, which was initially reported as a calf injury. After week one, he was placed on the IR list. The San Francisco 49ers will face the New England Patriots in week four.