49ers' Christian McCaffrey has calf issue, added to injury report - ESPN

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After making it through training camp and the preseason with no apparent health issues and not even appearing on Wednesday's injury report, running back Christian McCaffrey was added to the list Thursday evening.

According to the Niners, McCaffrey is dealing with a calf issue and was a limited participant in Thursday's practice. McCaffrey was on the field and doing his usual warmup and individual drills during the roughly 20 minutes open to the media at the start of the practice.

But McCaffrey was not in the locker room after it was over and did not do his usual Thursday media session. The addition of McCaffrey to the injury report with a calf issue is particularly notable given what happened leading up to Week 1 of last season.

McCaffrey missed most of 2024 training camp while dealing with what the team initially termed a calf injury but later clarified to be bilateral Achilles tendinitis. Heading into last year's season opener against the New York Jets, McCaffrey was listed a limited participant in practice during the week and then listed as questionable for the game.

Not only did McCaffrey not play against the Jets but he then missed the team's next seven games after landing on injured reserve before the Week 2 meeting with the Minnesota Vikings. After a lengthy recovery that included a trip to Germany to see a specialist, McCaffrey finally returned on Nov. 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and appeared in four games before suffering a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against the Buffalo Bills in Week 13.

After missing the rest of the season with that knee injury, McCaffrey was back on the field for all of the team's offseason program and then throughout this year's training