49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan says Christian McCaffrey ‘still up in the air’ for Sunday’s game vs Chiefs

Running back Christian McCaffrey is officially a member of the San Fransisco 49ers, but his status for San Francisco’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday is uncertain. 

The bombshell news that dropped Thursday night that the Carolina Panthers had traded McCaffrey to the Niners set off social media, as San Francisco added a serious weapon to its offense. 

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan joined KNBR Friday morning and said that McCaffrey’s status for Sunday is still undetermined. 

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“I’m still up in the air whether we’re going to be able to get him here for Sunday or not,” Shanahan said Friday morning. “I know for sure he’ll be here the following Sunday. But that’s kind of why I’m in a wait-and-see approach right now.”

“I’m not sure at all,” Shanahan continued. “This happened so fast, and we have to see where he’s at. It’s not a physical issue. He’s been practicing all week out there [in Carolina], so you know he’s ready in that way. But he’s not going to get a practice in with us. He’s never even seen our playbook.” 

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McCaffrey was acquired by the Niners for a second, third, and fourth-round pick in 2023, and a fifth-round pick in 2024, according to reports.

His addition adds another weapon for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, as the Niners look to separate themselves from the pack in the NFC West. 

The Niners, Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks are all 3-3, while the Arizona Cardinals are 3-4 after beating the New Orleans Saints Thursday night. 

“I think in the last couple days – we always knew it made sense for us, but you gotta see how you’re going to get there, who you’re competing with and things like that — in the last couple days we saw that we had a chance to compete for him, and he turned up here,” Shanahan told Murph & Mac on KNBR Friday morning.

“John’s [Lynch] been working the phones for 48 hours, and keeps telling me we’ve got a chance, and it’s getting close. I’m sitting down here last night just finishing red zone and stuff. Right towards the end I find out that we got it done. I’m pretty excited to tell you the truth.”