Niners' Christian McCaffrey expects usual workload in opener - ESPN

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — If all goes according to plan in Monday night's opener against the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey believes he will not only be playing but handling his usual amount of snaps.

After missing most of training camp with a calf and Achilles injury, McCaffrey returned to practice Tuesday and participated in Thursday's and Friday's sessions as well.

On Friday, McCaffrey spoke to Bay Area media for the first time since the injury, and although he didn't offer expansive answers on anything health-related, he made it clear what he expects to happen Monday.

Asked if there's any doubt he will play against the Jets, McCaffrey said simply, «No.»

Asked if he will take his normal, heavy workload, McCaffrey said, «I hope so.»

Earlier Friday, Niners general manager John Lynch told KNBR radio in San Francisco that McCaffrey would «be out there and ready to roll» against the Jets assuming he continues through the rest of the practice week.

Niners coach Kyle Shanahan first announced that McCaffrey strained a calf on Aug. 6, noting that the star running back would miss the entire preseason slate and a few weeks of practice.

That's exactly how it played out, as McCaffrey didn't return to practice officially until Tuesday's «bonus» practice, though he'd been running and working on the side for a couple of weeks before that.

Although McCaffrey has been officially listed as limited the past couple of days, he has been moving around on the practice field with no visible restrictions. He said he was feeling «much better» Friday.

«He looks like Christian to me,» run game coordinator Chris Foerster said. «You need to practice, so the guys who haven't practiced, I don't want to say there's