National Football League

49ers' Christian McCaffrey has possible calf strain, but team hopes it's 'not too bad'

Published Dec. 31, 2023 5:52 p.m. ET

Christian McCaffrey left the San Francisco 49ers' win against the Washington Commanders on Sunday with a right calf injury that coach Kyle Shanahan thinks could be a strain but hopes is not serious.

Clinching the top seed in the NFC and rendering next week's regular-season finale meaningless certainly helps, giving McCaffrey roughly three weeks to heal up before needing to play again.

San Francisco's do-it-all running back exited the game after a 3-yard run in the third quarter. He could be seen getting the calf taped up and then testing it by running around on the sideline late in the 27-10 victory.

Shanahan was unsure how concerned to be about the injury to the oft-injured star who has stayed healthy all season to this point.

"We think he'll be all right," Shanahan said. "I don't know if he would've been able to go next week or not, but we'll have to find out more (Monday). He was moving around all right on the sidelines, so hoping it's not too bad."

McCaffrey had 14 carries for 64 yards and four catches for 27 before leaving. He leads the NFL with 1,459 yards rushing.

Reporting by The Associated Press.