49ers running back Christian McCaffrey says he has ‘zero restrictions’ to start offseason program

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Christian McCaffrey starts the offseason with "zero restrictions" following an injury-filled 2024 season for the San Francisco 49ers that limited him to just four games.

McCaffrey missed the first eight games of the season with Achilles tendinitis and then went down with a right knee injury that sidelined him for the final five games.

"I'm feeling great,” McCaffrey said Tuesday on the first day of the offseason program for the 49ers. “It's been such a smooth process, a lot of hard work. As soon as that injury happened in Buffalo, this was my goal to not miss a day of OTAs, be back ready to go with nothing hindering me. That's where I'm at."

McCaffrey said he was fully healed from the Achilles injury and the posterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in Buffalo on Dec. 1 by early in the offseason and was able to train at "full speed."

It’s been an eventful offseason for McCaffrey, with his wife, Olivia Culpo, expecting the couple’s first child.

That follows the frustrating 2024 season. McCaffrey injured his Achilles tendon early in training camp and missed the first eight games of the season. He rushed for just 202 yards on 50 carries in four games before getting hurt again as he was unable to match his sensational 2023 season.

McCaffrey won the AP Offensive Player of the Year that season after leading the NFL with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and tying for the league lead with 21 touchdowns.

McCaffrey had missed just one game combined in 2022-23 - a meaningless Week 18 game in the 2023 season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf - after missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina.

Niners star linebacker Fred Warner said he has fully recovered from a broken bone in his ankle that hampered him for most of last season. Warner played through the injury without missing any games and earned his third straight All-Pro honors.

I feel great. Ankle's a thing of the past now, thank God, because that was tough, trying to deal with that all season. But I feel great now.

"I feel great,” he said. “The ankle injury is a thing of the past."

NOTES: DL Evan Anderson, DL Alex Barrett, LB Jalen Graham and TE Brayden Willis signed their one-year exclusive rights contracts. … Dustin Perry has been prompted to vice president of player health and performance. Perry is entering his ninth season with the 49ers and was the team's head strength and conditioning coach the past six seasons.