49ers GM Stock Encouraging Update From Christian McCaffrey; Jordan Mason is making progress

Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey's return to the field. Some believed that the star playmaker could return as soon as this Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, that won't happen as McCaffrey remains on injured reserve and the 49ers have not yet opened his practice window.

It now seems likely that the 49ers will wait until after the bye week to begin expanding McCaffrey's activities. They hope to have him available for the second half of the season.

General manager John Lynch discussed McCaffrey's status during a Friday morning appearance on Bay Area radio station KNBR.

“No new updates other than he is doing incredibly well,” Lynch said. “It's about ramping up work, increasing activity and making sure there are no setbacks. I could just tell people he's on the right track with this. No timelines or anything, but he does a little more – not every day. We.” Stagger it somehow, work hard one day and go for more of a (recovery) day the next day.

“But if you can start stacking those up and not have any setbacks, that’s a good thing, and that’s kind of the direction he’s trending.”

Jordan Mason is making progress

Jordan Mason did an admirable job for McCaffrey. Unfortunately, he suffered a sprained ACL last week against the Seattle Seahawks. Although Mason has had limited training this week, his condition is improving.

“JP (Mason) was out here this week in a blue jersey that basically tells everyone, 'Stay away, don't touch him,'” Lynch shared. “He's a tough guy. I think it's a good sign that he was out here, but we'll have to see that he gets to Sunday and is comfortable with contact and all that. But JP is tough and I bet on… JP will hopefully be there for us.”

On Thursday, head coach Kyle Shanahan also expressed optimism that Mason will be available for this weekend's game against the Chiefs.

“He’s fine,” Shanahan said. “We've been staying away from him all week just so we don't hurt him or make it worse. Put a blue jersey on him so no one hits him too hard. He's fine. He's had something like this before, so I think he'll be fine by Sunday.

You can listen to Lynch's entire interview below.

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