Kyle Shanahan on whether Christian McCaffrey could miss the season: “Not that I know of”

Eyebrows were raised Monday evening when ESPN reported that running back Christian McCaffrey would visit a specialist in Germany for his Achilles tendonitis. On Wednesday, coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the situation.

Does Shanahan have an update on McCaffrey?

“No update,” Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. “I haven’t spoken to him.”

Shanahan was then asked the question on many people’s minds.

Is there a chance he won’t play this season?

“Not that I know of,” Shanahan said.

That’s not a very convincing answer. All things considered, Shanahan has given the impression that he doesn’t really know what’s going on with arguably his most important player.

It adds to the mystery that is slowly growing about McCaffrey’s status. It started as a calf strain during camp. The first injury report of the regular season added the word “Achilles” to the mix.

Then, McCaffrey became a surprise scratch for the Week 1 game against the Jets. Then he landed on IR. Then came the news of the trip to Germany.

Now Shanahan doesn’t know what’s going on?

Maybe he was just strategically silent. Either way, it leads to an increasingly ominous situation. And no one saw it coming.