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San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan provided a promising update on injured running back Christian McCaffrey while speaking to KNBR on Tuesday, suggesting he remains on track to return to the fold after this week’s bye. training.

“We hope it will go that way,” he said (h/t Kyle Bonilla from 49ers Webzone). “It’s been going that way, and it’s been that way since we took him out and went through these very slow steps. It’s getting to that point. He hasn’t had any setbacks, and hopefully he has a really good week, and we can get him next week into practice, which would obviously be huge for us.”

The 28-year-old McCaffrey missed the entire 2024 season and has been on reserve since September 14 due to bilateral Achilles tendonitis. That has kept one of the NFL’s most dynamic playmakers off the field.

In his absence – and with Elijah Mitchell out for the season with a hamstring issue – the Niners have been forced to rely on the likes of Jordan Mason and Isaac Guerendo in the backfield, while wideout Deebo Samuel has also contributed as a dual-threat option. .

The team’s vaunted rushing attack hasn’t accomplished much. Mason has rushed for 685 yards and three touchdowns, Guerendo has added 227 yards and a score, and the team’s 159 rushing yards per game rank fourth in the NFL, behind only the Baltimore Ravens (200 YPG), Philadelphia Eagles (165.9 YPG) and Washington Commanders (165.8YPG).

But McCaffrey is almost as dynamic a receiver as he is a runner, and San Francisco has dealt with injuries all season to Brandon Aiyuk (out for the year with a torn ACL), Samuel and Jauan Jennings. Rookie Ricky Pearsall also missed the first six games of the season while recovering from gunshot wounds.

In other words, the Niners have been ravaged by injuries, and a team with Super Bowl aspirations has started the season 4-4. However, with a Week 9 bye looming, the team will have a chance to get a little healthier.

And McCaffrey appears on track to possibly return for a Week 10 tilt game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His return will be very welcome for quarterback Brock Purdy, who has seen his supporting cast decimated by injury this season.