The San Francisco 49ers’ injury crisis has carried on into the 2025 NFL season. Christian McCaffrey is just the latest name in a long line of star players on the Niners who are battling through some injury woes. McCaffrey is still dealing with a calf ailment, though he did feature prominently in Week 1Getty What’s the latest on Christian McCaffrey’s injury? The 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year was expected to be fully healthy entering the new season, but just days before their opener against the Seattle Seahawks, it was revealed that he had only been a limited participant in practice. The reasoning for this was due to him dealing with a calf ailment, something he had dealt with entering the previous season – that later turned out to be bilateral Achilles tendinitis – which kept him off the field until Week 10. He suffered a season-ending knee injury just four weeks later.The news of his limited participation in practice, expectedly, sparked concern, not just for fantasy football owners everywhere, but to 49ers fans who had waited for so long to see ‘Run CMC’ return to the backfield for them. But the uncertainty surrounding his status for Week 1 was quickly mitigated when the ‘one-of-one’ back suited up for the Niners as they handed their NFC West division rivals a 17-13 defeat on the road at Lumen Field. “It was nothing serious,” McCaffrey said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “It never was. I knew I was going to play. I just wanted to be smart with it.”McCaffrey rushed for a game-high 69 yards from 22 carries, averaging 3.1 yards per carry. He also had 73 receiving yards from nine receptions from quarterback Brock Purdy, an average of 8.1 yards per reception. After logging a heavy workload, being involved in a total of 58 offensive snaps, the 49ers gave McCaffrey a rest day on Wednesday by holding him out of practice.It remains to be seen how much of a hindrance his calf issue will be as the team prepares for their Week 2 match-up against the New Orleans Saints. 49ers injury list continues to pile upMcCaffrey’s status ahead of their Week 2 trip to Caesars Superdome isn’t the only one in question. Quarterback Brock Purdy‘s status is also uncertain after he sustained a left shoulder and toe injury, with the latter thought to be the most concerning of the two knocks. Purdy suffered both a shoulder and a toe injury in the 49ers’ win over division rivals SeahawksGettyGeorge Kittle (R) is set to miss an extended period of time after sustaining a hamstring injury in the first half against the SeahawksGettyAs such, it appears that head coach Kyle Shanahan – who told reporters on Wednesday that Purdy featuring would be a ‘long shot’ – has been ramping up the preparations with backup quarterback Mac Jones in line to get his first start in the Red and Gold. Purdy, who signed a massive five-year, $265 million contract extension over the offseason, completed 26-of-35 of his passes for 277 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions to improve to 4-0 as a starter at Lumen Field. However, he was pressured 26 times. Although McCaffrey, and to some – albeit small – extent Purdy each still have a chance to feature against the Saints, star tight end George Kittle definitely will not be out on the field with his teammates.After picking up a hamstring injury with 10 minutes left on the clock in the second quarter, it was announced on Tuesday that San Francisco had placed him on injured reserve, meaning he will miss the next four games at the very least.With wide receiver Jauan Jennings also dealing with a shoulder injury, and Brandon Aiyuk still out as he continues to work his way back from an ACL and MCL injury sustained last year, the 49ers are now severely depleted on offense.Consequently, the Niners may have no choice but to rely more on McCaffrey to carry the workload in his teammates’ absence, which comes with it great risk to his own season.The 49ers rely too much on CMCChristian McCaffrey's heavy workload2019 (CAR): 16 games, 25.2 touches per game2020 (CAR): 3 games, 25.3 touches per game2021 (CAR): 7 games, 19.4 touches per game2022 (CAR/SFO): 17 games, 19.4 touches per game2023 (SFO): 16 games, 21.2 touches per game2024 (SFO): 4 games, 16.3 touches per game2025 (SFO): 1 game, 31 touches per gameEx-NFL quarterback has significant concerns over CMCWith McCaffrey shouldering a huge amount of the 49ers offensive load on Sunday, despite not being 100 percent healthy, ex-NFL quarterback turned sportscaster Dan Orlovsky is worried about the Niners now having to rely more on him in light of their other injuries.McCaffrey has been an integral cog in the 49ers’ offensive machineGetty “I get concerned with McCaffrey touches,” Orlovsky said on an appearance of NFL Live. “I mean, 31 touches in Week One in September. Because the initial thought is, well, Kittle’s hurt. “McCaffrey was the guy last week. And so look at the touches per 2019 per game. Like, 31 touches. Are we going into October with 120, 130 touches for McCaffrey? It’s a lot to weather in San Francisco right now.”But the Niners’ star running back – who tumbled 70 places on the NFL Top 100 list from 2024 – has admitted that he, and the rest of the team, need to play their part, amid the team’s other injuries.“I think everybody’s just gotta do their job, and that’s whether Brock’s playing or not,” McCaffrey explained. “It just comes down to everybody executing at a high level and keeping it that simple. “Not trying to do anything extremely special, but just have to have really good execution at all times. But that’s pretty much consistent every week.”Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for news, exclusive interviews and more.