49ers running back Christian McCaffrey injured his right calf on a 3-yard run with 7:49 left in the third quarter Sunday. He did not return.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said McCaffrey might have a strain.
“We think he’ll be all right,” Shanahan said, via Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. “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 called the injury “pretty minor.”
The 49ers have nothing to play for in Week 18, having clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC, so McCaffrey doesn’t have to play another game for three weeks.
“I think it was minor and just made the smart move, especially not knowing what was going to happen next week,” McCaffrey said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “I didn’t just want to go in there and make it any worse. With certain things, you can’t be dumb about it.”
McCaffrey had 14 carries for 64 yards and four catches for 27 yards on Sunday. He leads the NFL with 1,459 yards rushing and became the third player in NFL history with 2,000 scrimmage yards in a season with two different franchises.
Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk are the other running backs to accomplish that feat.
