Santa Clara – Christian McCaffrey is yesterday’s news. The 49ers too.
McCaffrey has long used real and imagined light as fuel for its insatiable appetite for work and preparation.
A year ago, McCaffrey was the offensive player of the reigning year of the NFL and was waiting for a wedding at the end of June. Now there is an aging, broken down while waiting for paternity.
“I like the mentality we have and I like the story that goes around,” said McCaffrey on Tuesday when the 49ers started their off -season program. “This is the kind of thing you can prove to them or prove them the opposite. We have a committed team that is ready to freeze and realize that it will take us all. This is how it should be, I am excited.”
Instead that McCaffrey makes life miserable for the opposing defenses, it was Saquon Barkley of Philadelphia. Instead of being the key that unlocked the offensive of the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan, McCaffrey introduced the fans base and the media at the end “bilateral tendinitis of Achille”.
It took a trip to Germany and eight weeks of the season to get on the field, then three games where he was not like that of the player who was one of the most versatile threats of the NFL since his arrival by the trade in Carolina on October 20, 2022.
No one knows how it happened or why it happened, although McCaffrey’s father Ed suggested on the Ross Tucker podcast last October that his son was overestimated.
As McCaffrey finally started to be alike on December 1 in Buffalo, with seven rushes for 53 meters, he torn the posterior cross ligament in his right knee. He finished for the season, playing in four games with 50 rushes for 202 yards and 15 receptions for 146 yards.
And no touchdown.
It is the same guy who, during his first 37 games with the 49ers, including the playoffs, had 745 keys (rush and receive) for 4,300 yards and 39 affected.
Is it surprising that the 49ers were struggling in the red zone and went from 60 affected on the ground and receiving affected in 2023 to 40 in 2024?
This leads to speculation of course that McCaffrey, 28, has reached his expiration date as the first ball carrier. If this is the case, he would not be the first in a position where the players treat their bodies as if it were a demolition derby. In 2020-2010, with the Panthers, McCaffrey was limited to 10 games with a raised ankle sprain, a shoulder injury, a gluteal strain, a strain of the hamstring and another strain of the ankle.
“For me, it’s just about being right,” said McCaffrey. “I have already come here. I have been counted a lot in my life. When I start to focus on external voices, I lose control of my own life, so I know what to do. I know what to do. I know how I am supposed to feel the best I can be.
For what it is worth, McCaffrey has four months younger than Barkley, who supplanted him as Opoy and rushed for 2,005 yards with the Eagles.
McCaffrey did not need surgery and fired on the ground in a way that he did not do it a year ago when he was waiting for a contract extension of $ 38 million of two years. He said he had no restrictions.
“It was such a fluid process, a lot of hard work,” said McCaffrey. “As soon as this injury occurred in Buffalo, my goal was not to miss an OTA day, to come back ready to go with nothing to intervene and that’s where I am.”
McCaffrey lacked almost as much on the training field as on Sunday. The 49ers learned when it happened that McCaffrey takes each representative seriously. He made a maximum effort every day during his first training camp and seduced his teammates with his attention to detail.
The 49ers are only in phase 1 of their off -season program, which limits players to meetings, strength and packaging and physical rehabilitation. But by going through the painless packaging and with the attendance that general manager John Lynch said was 100%approached, McCaffrey felt good about his skin and his team.
“It’s great,” said McCaffrey. “It was such a good participation. There was great energy on the field, in the weight room and during meetings. I hope we can continue. It was really exciting and a lot of juice of the first day.”
McCaffrey’s wife Olivia Culpo announced her pregnancy in March with an Instagram photo shoot that showed her expectations. It is another moment that changes life, a year after marriage – and something that McCaffrey promises will not affect his dedication or perspective with regard to his work.
“Obviously, some grown -ups have occurred in my life, but they occur every year,” said McCaffrey. “This is what people know and what they do not do. Whatever it is, whether good or bad, I have had a lot in my career. You come to work every day, you work very hard, then you go home and you are a husband, you are a father who is soon, you are a son, you are a friend. To separate these things is quite important.”
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