49ers running back Christian McCaffrey soon will turn 30. That raises questions about managing his workload moving forward.
The topic came up during a Thursday press conference.
“I’ve been dealing with those questions for nine years,” McCaffrey told reporters, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “I think the workload in our sport is really monitored in practice, not in games. We play 17 regular-season games a year and everybody’s livelihoods are on the line. I would say on Sunday you’ve got to do whatever it takes to win and that’s not a coach’s job.”
McCaffrey summed it up like this: “You don’t tell the 3-point shooter you only get six 3s today.”
For him, workload management happens in the days between the games.
“So much of it is rhythmic and it’s my job to put my body in the best position I can to go out there and play and I think everything else can be monitored during the week or with a practice schedule or certain ways you train, whatever it may be,” McCaffrey said. “But when it comes to game days, I like to think you prepare yourself for playing every snap.”
After an Achilles injury followed by a knee injury limited McCaffrey to four games in 2024, he started every game in 2025. He also had a shot at his second career season of 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards. (He’s one of only three players to have ever done it once.)
And while the clock is ticking for McCaffrey (and for all of us), McCaffrey has shown that he is built to take a licking. Which is the nature of the position he plays.
