The San Francisco 49ers should have Christian McCaffrey at or near full strength for Super Bowl 58 against the Kansas City Chiefs in 12 days’ time.
Per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, McCaffrey suffered a right shoulder injury in Sunday’s NFC Championship victory over the Detroit Lions. The league rushing champion was not named on the list of the 49ers’ injury report by head coach Kyle Shanahan, via Maiocco.
“My shoulder felt a little weird,” McCaffrey said, “and I didn’t want to not be able to grip the ball, especially at a crucial time like that. And Mitch (running back Elijah Mitchell) is unbelievable. So he goes in there and gets a touchdown. I was happy and proud of him and our whole team. We scored. That’s all I cared about.”
So McCaffrey’s shoulder appears to be just fine, and he should be more than ready for the biggest game of his career on Feb. 11. The 49ers open as a slight 2.5-point favorite over Patrick Mahomes and the defending champions.
McCaffrey has been the 49ers’ best offensive player during the postseason, with 188 rushing yards and four touchdowns over the team’s first two playoff games. He had 90 rushing yards, two rushing scores and four receptions for 42 yards in the 49ers’ 34-31 victory over the Lions.
McCaffrey won his first career rushing title this season after recording 1,459 yards on the ground to go along with 14 rushing touchdowns. His 21 all-purpose touchdowns and 2,023 yards from scrimmage also led the NFL.
