As of Thursday afternoon, all signs point to Christian McCaffrey making his 2024 NFL season debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

McCaffrey missed the first eight games of the season for the 49ers due to bilateral Achilles tendonitis, but returned to the practice field on Monday and has practiced for three consecutive sessions without any issues, a promising indication that he will return to the field on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Neither McCaffrey nor 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan have confirmed the All-Pro running back’s status for the game, but former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman, a fellow Stanford product who is friends with McCaffrey, recently spoke with the 49ers star on whether he will play against Tampa. Bay.

“Yes, I heard it from the horse’s mouth,” Sherman told co-host Mitch Eisenstein on the “Richard Sherman Podcast.” “He’s feeling really good, and he felt like he probably could have played last week, but they wanted to be overly cautious and just give him more weeks of practice and more time to work that thing out so he gets comfortable and self-confidence he does.

“There’s nothing like replays and until he gets into a game and is able to get the adrenaline going and feel himself in a ball game, he’s still going to have to kick the rust off in the game. Football is a very fast game , a really violent game. Very few people can come in and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to put on pads and I’m going to be the player I was when I was Offensive Player of the Year (in my) first game in the league. season.”

Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday that McCaffrey’s status for Sunday’s game likely won’t be confirmed until hours before kickoff. But barring any setback, it is becoming increasingly clear that McCaffrey must return.

“All signs point to him playing and probably playing a major role in this game,” Sherman added.

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