Christian McCaffrey’s shoulder injury expected to sideline him for at least 1 game
Christian McCaffrey is not expected to be available for Sunday’s game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to a right shoulder injury, a league source with knowledge of the situation told The Observer. This will be the seventh missed game by the All-Pro running back this season.
Panthers head coach Matt Rhule confirmed later Wednesday that McCaffrey is not likely to be unavailable for Sunday’s game and is now “week-to-week.” He described the running back’s injury as an AC joint issue in his shoulder.
“It looks like he’s pretty much out for this week, and we’ll see how it is next week,” Rhule said.
At this point, the injury is not anticipated to be season-ending, Rhule said.
“I’m not anticipating that, I’m anticipating it, from what I know, being much more sort of day-to-day, week-by-week than that, but those are doctors and they have to do what’s right for him and Christian has to make the best decision for him,” Rhule said. “I have not entertained that thought (of it being season-ending) until you said it.”
McCaffrey suffered the injury on the final drive of last Sunday’s game vs. Kansas City. Chiefs safety Daniel Sorenson tackled the running back after he caught a pass, which caused him to land hard on his shoulder. McCaffrey got up slow and ran straight to the sideline.
He returned for one play later in the drive after receiving attention from trainers.
The game against Kansas City was McCaffrey’s first game back after being on injured reserve for six straight weeks with a high ankle sprain suffered in the Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers.
The running back was scheduled to talk with media Monday, but was not made available. McCaffrey did not practice Wednesday and is getting a second opinion on his shoulder.
Prior to this season, McCaffrey had never missed a game in his NFL career. He leads the Panthers with six touchdowns (five rushing, one receiving) in three games this season. McCaffrey had 151 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns vs. the Chiefs, while playing 71% of the offensive snaps.
Running back Reggie Bonnafon was signed to the active roster Wednesday to give the Panthers additional depth at the position. Linebacker Adarius Taylor (groin) was added to injured reserve as a corresponding move.
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 11:56 AM with the headline "Christian McCaffrey’s shoulder injury expected to sideline him for at least 1 game."
