'No setbacks' for 49ers' McCaffrey, still 'on track' to practice next week - ESPN

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As the rest of his San Francisco 49ers teammates get some much-needed down time during this week's bye, running back Christian McCaffrey has reached an important benchmark in his recovery from Achilles tendinitis.

McCaffrey, who missed the first eight games of the season because of the injury, will remain in the Bay Area this week to do what coach Kyle Shanahan described Monday as «simulated practice stuff» with an eye toward opening his practice window on Nov. 4.

«It depends how this week goes,» Shanahan said. «He's had no setbacks so it looks like we're on track, but he's going to hit it hard this week while we're gone… as long as it all goes good, hopefully we'll get him back in practice next week.»

The 49ers have been eagerly anticipating McCaffrey's return since Shanahan announced his star running back was dealing with a calf injury on Aug. 6. Shanahan later revealed that McCaffrey was also battling Achilles tendinitis, which has lingered beyond the calf issue and eventually caused the Niners to place McCaffrey on injured reserve on Sept. 14.

That all came after the Niners and McCaffrey originally said he would be available for the Sept. 9 opener against the New York Jets. Upon placing McCaffrey on injured reserve, Shanahan said it needed to be done as a means to get McCaffrey to rest and recover.

A week later, McCaffrey visited with a specialist in Germany while the Niners traveled to Los Angeles to play the Rams on Sept. 22.

«After we decided to put him on IR, I think it's been pretty easy,» Shanahan said. «That's why we did decide to do that. We knew it was going to be at least a month and shut him down for a while and now build him up slowly and things have been going well, so now it's