On Monday night, eyebrows were raised with the report from ESPN that running back Christian McCaffrey would see a specialist in Germany for his Achilles tendinitis. On Wednesday, coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the situation.
Does Shanahan have an update on McCaffrey?
“No update,” Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. “I haven’t talked to him.”
Shanahan then was asked the question that is on the minds of many people.
Is there a chance he won’t play this season?
“Not that I know of,” Shanahan said.
That’s not a very convincing answer. Taken together, Shanahan has created the impression that he doesn’t really know what’s happening with perhaps his most important player.
It adds to the mystery that slowly has been growing about McCaffrey’s status. It started as a calf strain during camp. On the first injury report of the regular season, the word “Achilles” was added to the mix.
Then, McCaffrey became a surprise scratch for the Week 1 game against the Jets. Then, he landed on IR. Then came the news of the trip to Germany.
Now, Shanahan doesn’t knows what’s going on?
Maybe he was just being strategically silent. Regardless, it adds up to a situation that keeps getting more ominous. And no one saw it coming.