Christian McCaffrey returned to practice Wednesday for the first time in three weeks, a positive sign for the Carolina Panthers running back, who first suffered a hamstring injury in Week 3’s Thursday Night Football game against the Texans.
But based on Matt Rhule’s comments at his press conference after practice, it was far from certain whether he’d be available against the Patriots on Sunday.
McCaffrey didn’t do much during the 20-minute portion of practice open to the media, which included stretching and ball security drills. Rhule said McCaffrey was “pretty limited.”
“Not a ton of plays,” Rhule said. “Just trying to begin the process of working him back. We gave him some time off.
“He hasn’t practiced with us in several weeks, so this is his first day back. We’ll see how he looks tomorrow in terms of this weekend and his availability. But no setbacks, which is good for his first step.”
McCaffrey has missed the last five games the Panthers have played. In those games, the Panthers are 1-4.
Their only win was last week’s 19-13 win over the Falcons. The Panthers showed signs of progression without him. They ran it 47 times for 203 yards against Atlanta, which is the most yards the Panthers have run for since Rhule became head coach.
The Panthers had hoped to have McCaffrey back three weeks ago. He practiced some prior to the Eagles’ game in Week 5. Then on that Saturday before that game, the team’s medical staff thought it was best to place him on the injured reserve.
At Rhule’s press conference, he didn’t want to make any assumptions about McCaffrey’s availability.
“It’s just a process we’re getting started today,” Rhule said. “It took Stephon two weeks to kind of come back and be ready to play. And even then, it was limited … We’ll see how Christian’s body resumes.
“We’re really getting Chuba (Hubbard), Ameer (Abdullah) and Royce (Freeman) ready like we have been, and we’ll see what happens with Christian.”
McCaffrey’s availability and his usage rate have been among the biggest topics for the Panthers over the past two years.
He missed 13 games last year after dealing with multiple injuries throughout the season.
He suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 of the 2020 season and was put on IR. He then suffered an AC joint shoulder injury upon his return. He was slated to return again, but during rehab on the team’s bye week suffered a quad injury and did not play the remainder of the season.
Before suffering the hamstring strain in Week 3, he had 59 touches in the team’s first two games. He has 200 yards rushing, 163 yards receiving and two touchdowns this season.
But since his injury, other players like rookie Chuba Hubbard and Ameer Abdullah have emerged.
Rhule said Monday that he’d like to try to get them more touches when McCaffrey returns.
“To me, it’s not just about Christian; it’s about those guys who have really emerged for us, and we want them all to play,” Rhule said. “So we’ll see where Christian’s at this week. But I think just in general with him coming back, forget about what’s happened, I want to see Chuba Hubbard on the field, too, and Ameer on the field, too. It’s a good problem to have.”
The Panthers have 21 days starting Wednesday to add McCaffrey back to the 53-man roster. They waited until the 21st day to add offensive guard Pat Elflein to the roster Wednesday after he suffered a groin injury in Week 2 and was placed on IR.
He returned to practice Wednesday as well.
In addition, punter Joe Charlton returned to practice this week. He has missed the last three weeks with a back injury but is eligible to play Sunday.