49ers’ Christian McCaffrey gets unplanned full workload at Buccaneers

So much for slowly working Christian McCaffrey into the mix.

Playing in his first game since Feb. 11, McCaffrey had 19 touches for 107 yards (13 carries for 39 yards, six receptions for 68 yards) in the 49ers’ 23-20 win over the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday.

McCaffrey hadn’t played since the Super Bowl in Las Vegas while battling a stubborn case of Achilles tendinitis. His recovery took him to Germany and back. A practice warrior since he arrived in 2022, McCaffrey for the most part has been a reluctant spectator during the offseason, training camp and the first eight games of the regular season.

“I’m just happy I’m here, man,” McCaffrey said at the postgame podium. “That was a long journey and a lot of long days. It feels good to win, and it feels good to just play in a football game again.”

While McCaffrey wasn’t necessarily at his do-it-all explosive best and didn’t score a touchdown, what he was able to accomplish in his first game back will only add to his legend.

“That’s the third time I’ve had pads on in eight weeks, so just getting back into a groove, that was good for me to do,” McCaffrey said. “I think there’s a couple of things that maybe I didn’t feel like myself 100 percent. But that’s normal when you haven’t played in a long time. I’ll learn and grow from those and keep trucking along.”

McCaffrey’s 19 touches were only slightly below his average of 21.2 a year ago. The men who replaced McCaffrey in his absence, Jordan Mason and Isaac Guerendo, got one carry each.

Coach Kyle Shanahan went in with the idea of limiting McCaffrey somewhat. The first time McCaffrey came out, he looked perturbed, and he wound up missing just six snaps in the first half. In the second half, he missed all of two more.

Shanahan clearly doesn’t understand the concept of “load management,” and admitted as much afterward.

“In the second half it got away from us a little bit,” Shanahan said. “He didn’t need to be taken out. We talked to him, he felt great. Going to be pumped to have him back next week.”

In McCaffrey’s absence, Mason and Guerendo had caught 14 passes in eight games. As good as McCaffrey is as a runner — and he led the NFL with 1,459 yards rushing in 2023 — his ability as a receiver is what sets him apart.

McCaffrey’s biggest play came with 8:55 left and the 49ers trailing 17-13. He circled out of the backfield to the right sideline as Brock Purdy was being pressured and hauled in a 30-yard pass to the Bucs’ 23-yard line. It helped set up George Kittle for an off-schedule 11-yard touchdown catch from Purdy for a 20-17 lead.

“It was a great throw,” McCaffrey said. “He had pressure in his face, I guess, and it was a perfectly thrown ball. It’s not easy to put touch on it, to understand where I’m at on the field, and he was able to put it there. That was a good play.”

Even with McCaffrey back, the 49ers didn’t score on their first two red zone opportunities — although on one of them he was on the sidelines after Purdy had taken a sack. The 49ers’ point total (23) was a modest one, in part because Jake Moody missed three field goals before connecting from 44 yards on the game-winner.

Purdy, however, felt McCaffrey’s impact was obvious. McCaffrey’s presence helped Jauan Jennings (seven receptions, 93 yards) and Ricky Pearsall Jr. (four receptions, 73 yards, one touchdown) and created issues for the Tampa Bay defense.

Jennings and Pearsall had 40 yards on four completions on the 49ers’ game-winning drive, and to Purdy, it was no coincidence McCaffrey was on the field at the time.

“We had multiple plays with him the backfield throwing the ball,” Purdy said. “Defenses have to scheme that up, which can open it up for some other guys.”

McCaffrey’s presence, however, went beyond the X’s and O’s.

“More than anything, just seeing how gritty and tough he is, we get behind him,” Purdy said. “He keeps us all going and lights that fire in our huddle. It’s huge having him in there.”

Left tackle Trent Williams noticed the difference.

“Getting (McCaffrey) back is a help,” Williams told reporters. “A lot of people don’t realize he hasn’t played a lot of snaps since the Super Bowl. He gave us a tremendous boost but he’s going to continue to get better.”

Kittle told Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews: “Christian’s just got an elite aura. He’s got this baller in him and as soon as he’s on the field it lifts everybody around him.”

McCaffrey said he approached the game like any other even if it had been a long time even if it had been nearly nine months since he played in one.

“I try to feel emotions as they come,” McCaffrey said. “I don’t really plan anything. I have my routine. It’s all about my body and making sure the warmup is on point. If the excitement comes, be excited. But I try to stay even-keeled. But when you miss time due to something like that, nobody wants to be on the field more than me. To just be out there again, you realize how much of a privilege it is just to play football.”