That, apparently, didn’t happen, as the Niners made McCaffrey’s return to the 53-man roster official on Saturday. He was activated from injured reserve after he missed the first eight games with bilateral Achilles tendinitis.
For McCaffrey, the opportunity to return to the field doesn’t come too soon.
“Sometimes you take for granted that you play this game for a living and it’s what you do, it’s what you train for, but when it’s taken away from you, even for a little while, it makes you really appreciate every single day.” that you’re on the grass,” McCaffrey said Friday.
To make room on the roster for McCaffrey, the 49ers released running back Patrick Taylor Jr. on Friday night. Adding McCaffrey leaves the Niners with four running backs on the depth chart with Jordan Mason, Isaac Guerendo and fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
McCaffrey went on injured reserve on Sept. 14 and remained there for nearly two months before being activated Saturday. During a time that McCaffrey described Friday as “difficult,” he has undergone extensive rehabilitation and treatment plans to return to the field.
That included a trip to Germany the weekend of Sept. 22 to visit a specialist. While McCaffrey declined to go into the details of that trip, he did say that he would “do anything to come back.”
McCaffrey opened his practice window on Monday and then participated in all four of the team’s sessions this week with no apparent issues, opening the door for his return. He credited Niners general manager John Lynch, coach Kyle Shanahan, owner Jed York and the team’s medical staff for helping him prepare to return.
“From John to Kyle to Jed to the entire training staff, the way they treated everything and the way they approached it was unbelievable,” McCaffrey said. “Sometimes you need people on your side who can take care of you and maybe know what’s best for you in times where you’re maybe trying to hold on or figure out something that could be risky. The way they handled it and the training staff AND the force personnel are really lucky for them.”
McCaffrey wasn’t the only Niner to open his practice window this week. Offensive lineman Jon Feliciano and defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos also began practicing again, but their returns will have to wait at least another week as San Francisco opted not to activate either of them Saturday afternoon.
