Christian McCaffrey on injury, ‘humbling’ season: ‘Wasn’t my year’

Christian McCaffrey suffered a torn PCL in the San Francisco 49ers’ 35-10 Week 13 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The injury is expected to sideline him for about six weeks and will likely knock him out for the rest of the 2024 NFL season.

McCaffrey addressed his most recent injury for the first time Wednesday in a statement posted on social media. He dove into the ‘humbling’ nature of playing football and acknowledged that 2024 simply wasn’t his year.

‘Football is the greatest game on the planet to me,’ the 28-year-old wrote on Instagram. ‘I love that you can find out exactly who you are without ever saying a word. It lifts you up and breaks you down and it can happen fast. It’s humbling in the best ways. You can do everything right and still fail. (That’s) life and that’s football. It’s a constant test of wills and those who just keep going tend to reap the benefits of their perseverance. This wasn’t my year, and sometimes when it rains, it pours.’

Indeed, 2024 wasn’t McCaffrey’s year. His campaign got off to a rough start, as he dealt with Achilles tendinitis in both of his legs. That caused him to miss San Francisco’s first eight games.

All things 49ers: Latest San Francisco 49ers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

McCaffrey finally was able to return to the lineup in Week 10, but he wasn’t his typical explosive self. He failed to record more than 79 rushing yards in a single game and didn’t find the end zone at all in his four starts.

In Week 13, it finally seemed like McCaffrey was hitting his stride. He got off to a hot start against the Bills, racking up 58 yards on his first six carries, but hit his right knee hard on the ground in the second quarter after being tackled by the shoestrings. A couple of plays later, McCaffrey slid down on a simple handoff. He limped off the field and didn’t return to the game and was diagnosed with the potential season-ending injury.

Assuming his year is done, McCaffrey will finish 2024 having run for 202 yards on 50 carries with no touchdowns. He also added 15 catches and 146 yards through the air, but his 348 scrimmage yards and four games played both mark career lows for the eight-year veteran.

Nonetheless, McCaffrey isn’t letting his down season impact him. Instead, he’s using it as motivation to come back stronger in 2025.

‘You can feel sorry for yourself and listen to the birds, or you can hold the line,’ McCaffrey wrote in his post. ‘I’m grateful for the support of everyone in my corner and promise I’ll work smarter and harder than ever to come back better from this. I love my teammates, I love the (49ers), and I love football. God doesn’t miss. Onward.’