49ers star RB Christian McCaffrey returns to practice - ESPN

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In what is the most significant step he's taken in his recovery from Achilles tendinitis, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey returned to practice.

The Niners officially opened McCaffrey's 21-day practice window on Monday afternoon, which means he has three weeks to prove he's ready to be activated from injured reserve to the 53-man roster.

Sure enough, McCaffrey was on the practice field and warming up with his teammates during a roughly two-minute viewing period open to media. For his teammates, McCaffrey's return was a welcome sight, with one noting that McCaffrey's fresh legs had him moving in fast forward compared to everyone else during a team drill.

«It's such an amazing feeling to see that 2-3 out there doing his extensive warmup and a million high knees he does before practice,» left tackle Trent Williams said. «It was great seeing him.»

While McCaffrey and the 49ers will have time to see how he fares in practice before putting him back in any games, there has been optimism around the team that he will be available on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so long as this week goes well.

For the better part of the past few weeks, the Niners have pointed to this week for McCaffrey's potential return as he continued to work through the tendinitis that kept him out of the team's first eight games.

Before San Francisco took off on its bye last week, coach Kyle Shanahan again suggested McCaffrey would begin practicing on Monday so long as his simulated practice work last week came with no setbacks.

«As long as it all goes good, hopefully we'll get him back in practice next week,» Shanahan said on Oct. 28.

McCaffrey originally went on injured reserve on Sept. 14 after dealing