49ers' Christian McCaffrey has mild hamstring strain. Will he return after bye week?

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said running back Christian McCaffrey suffered a mild hamstring strain during Sunday’s 29-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Shanahan is “pretty optimistic” McCaffrey will be available for the 49ers’ Nov. 8 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, the team’s next game following a Week 8 bye.

“We think so, with it just being (a mild strain),” Shanahan said Monday afternoon. “Never know for sure, but we’re pretty optimistic about it. So is he.”

Not long after totaling 69 yards and a touchdown Sunday on the 49ers’ opening drive, McCaffrey was seen stretching on the sideline and pressing a massage gun to his left hamstring area. He then entered the blue tent for an extended period in the second quarter before jogging to the locker room.

He reentered to start the second half but was significantly hampered, ending the afternoon with just 34 snaps, his second-lowest number of the season. After his explosive opening drive, McCaffrey recorded just 10 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards.

Postgame, McCaffrey told reporters that his leg “just died” on him. “I was trying to get it going for the whole rest of the game, but it just sucks trying to play like that. But I know I’ll be all right.”

No kicker change:Shanahan said the 49ers are not planning to try out any kickers during the bye week amid Eddy Piñeiro’s continued struggles to convert extra points.

“I haven’t been told that we are,” Shanahan said. “As far as I’ve heard, we don’t have any plans on that right now.”

Piñeiro is 21 of 25 on extra points this season. He has missed one of his three attempts in each of the last two games. On Sunday, Piñeiro shanked an extra point in the fourth quarter that prevented the 49ers from cutting their deficit to five points. Because of that, when Atlanta converted a field goal to go up nine points in the final minute, the 49ers did not have an opportunity to string together a potential game-tying drive.

After the 49ers’ 23-20 win over the Washington Commanders on Oct. 19, Shanahan said Piñeiro has “got to make” his extra points. When asked after that game if there was a level of concern with the trend, Shanahan said, “I think everyone knows the answer to that.”

Asked about his extra-point struggles on Sunday, Piñeiro said he will take the bye week to watch the tape, reassess and start over.

Piñeiro is 6-for-9 on field-goal attempts this season. All three of his misses have come on kicks of 50 yards or more. He is 2-for-5 on such attempts and 4-for-4 on all other kicks.

Optimism on post-bye returns:While none of these are guaranteed, Shanahan said the following players “have a chance” to return after San Francisco’s bye week: defensive end Nick Bosa (calf/knee), wide receivers Mike Evans (Achilles), Deebo Samuel (hamstring) and Demarcus Robinson (ankle), linebackers Luke Gifford (groin) and Garret Wallow (hamstring), safety Marques Sigle (ankle) and defensive tackle CJ West (knee). Shanahan also said the expectation is that nickel back Upton Stout, who has dealt with a shoulder injury all month and was only active on an emergency basis Sunday, will be full-go after the bye week.

“It’s a big week of rehab for all of them,” Shanahan said, adding the 49ers will do some field work on Tuesday before taking the rest of the week off and returning Monday. “We’ll see where they’re at next week.”

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This article originally published at 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey has mild hamstring strain. Will he return after bye week?.