Niners News: Training Camp Injury Report
“49ers Fans Are God’s Strongest Soldiers.”
49ers fans once again find themselves in unpleasant yet familiar territory heading into training camp: a disgruntled wideout at the top of the depth chart, questions about Christian McCaffrey’s health, and concerning medical reports regarding high draft capital assets. As far as the medical side of the drama goes, we’ve got you covered with a brief rundown of what each Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) designation, and CMC’s absence from it, implies for their 2025 outlook.
Christian McCaffrey:
2024 was a season in which CMC battled bilateral Achilles tendonitis, along with a season-ending PCL injury. He even took a mid-season flight to Germany for what was reportedly platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, a form of stem cell therapy. With him opening up as a full go and participating in voluntary workouts, we should take the Niners' training staff and team at their word that he has been evaluated as fully healthy to start the year. We should also take Christian at his word, as he has said this is the best he’s felt in years. Deepak Chona, MD (@SportMDAnalysis), my go-to for NFL injury information, predicts a 100% Week 1 McCaffrey. However, he will also carry double the average running back injury risk for 2025.
Brandon Aiyuk:
Starting on PUP after a mid-season, multi-ligament knee injury is no surprise. Sadly, it may be a while before we see Aiyuk resemble his old self. If he begins the season on PUP, he will miss at least four weeks, after which a five-week window opens for him to be activated or shut down for the year. We are likely looking at 4-6 weeks without him if he remains designated at Week 1 kickoff. Historical precedent predicts an additional 4-6 week ramp-up period and up to a 20% decline in performance compared to his pre-injury peak (Deepak Chona, MD).
Ricky Pearsall:
Pearsall reportedly suffered a hamstring injury during summer workouts. If cleared by camp, it would suggest no major concerns for the season-long outlook. However, he has not been cleared for camp. We haven’t gotten solid reporting yet on the severity of the injury. The time to panic would be if it lingers weeks into camp or suffers a setback. There is warranted concern for chronic hamstring issues dating back to July 2024. For NFL players, where hamstring injuries are the most common soft tissue malady, there is a 20-25% re-injury rate. Ricky avoided the risk last year; fingers crossed he can repeat that in 2025.
Malik Mustapha:
The standout rookie played like he was shot out of a cannon in 2024 but was unfortunately the subject of a surprise Adam Schefter report in late April announcing he had torn his previously graft-repaired ACL in the season finale. Mustapha is now set to miss a significant portion of the upcoming season after undergoing surgery well after the January 5th game.
According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, the average return-to-play timeline after ACL reconstruction is 10.8 months, with the shortest being around 9 months and some taking up to 12. Whenever he does return, we shouldn’t expect 100% of pre-injury Malik until 2026. Still, a late-season addition of his caliber to the secondary would be huge for the playoff stretch. If he is not activated by the Week 9 deadline, he will be shut down for the season.
Curtis Robinson:
Robinson tore his ACL during practice in late September. He is an excellent special teams player who will add much-needed depth to that portion of the game upon his return. Prior to being carted off the practice field, he had taken 78% of 2024 special teams snaps. He faces the same return-to-play timeline as Mustapha: 9-12 months from the first week of October 2024.
Andre Dillard and Yetur Gross-Matos:
Dillard’s ankle and Gross-Matos’ knee injuries should not be major issues, as Kyle Shanahan addressed both in June, stating they were expected back by camp.