The San Francisco 49ers are hopeful that star running back Christian McCaffrey will return to the field this weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, aiming to spark a team that currently holds a 4-4 record as it enters the second half of the season.
According to former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman, McCaffrey feels ready for Sunday's Week 10 matchup at Raymond James Stadium.
"Yeah, I heard it from the horse's mouth," Sherman shared on his podcast this week, per Taylor Wirth of NBC Sports Bay Area. "He feels really good, and he felt like he could have probably played [against the Cowboys], but they wanted to be overly cautious and just give him more weeks of practice and more time to work that thing out to feel comfortable and feel confident, and he does.
"Nothing's like game reps, and until he gets out there in a game and is able to cut and get the adrenaline going and feel himself throughout a ballgame, he's still going to have to knock the rust off in-game. Football's a really fast game, a really violent game. Very few people can come in and say, 'Hey, I'm putting on pads, and I'm going to be the player I was when I was Offensive Player of the Year [in my] first game into the season.'"
On Bay Area radio station KNBR, head coach Kyle Shanahan also sounded optimistic about McCaffrey's anticipated debut on Sunday.
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"You never know for a setback or anything, but these two days have been great, and expect to see him out there," Shanahan stated.
The 49ers hope that McCaffrey's return will help them build momentum for a playoff push in the final stretch of the season.
Sherman added, "All signs point to him playing and likely playing a significant role in this game."
