Star running back Christian McCaffrey and the banged-up 49ers are grateful for the late bye week they enjoyed during the 2025 NFL season.
One of four teams assigned the latest rest period, San Francisco had Week 14 off and now is preparing for its matinee against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. Other teams had byes as early as Week 5.
McCaffrey, with a busy 1,655 yards and 13 touchdowns thus far, explained why he appreciates the timing of the team’s bye week to reporters at 49ers practice on Wednesday in Santa Clara.
“When you look at the bye early in the year, you’re kind of dreading it,” McCaffrey said. “You know you got to [play] 13 straight [games] or whatever it is. But now that it’s done and it’s happened at the end of the year and [we’re] getting some guys back and getting healthy again, it’s a blessing in disguise.
“My bye — I rested [and] recovered. And, you know, just tried to get my mind, body and spirit ready to come back here this week and get ready for Tennessee.”
The 29-year-old added that his favorite part of the week off was spending time with his five-month-old daughter, Colette.
San Francisco needed the bye week more than any other team, considering the injuries it has dealt with, as McCaffrey highlighted, and the impressive-but-strenuous 9-4 record the 49ers have clawed to sustain.
Coach Kyle Shanahan shared McCaffrey’s gratitude for the late bye week when also talking to reporters at 49ers practice on Wednesday in Santa Clara.
“I spent it hanging out with the family, relaxing,” Shanahan said. “It was fun to kind of just watch football Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, just from a fan perspective. It was different having a bye this late. I don’t know if I’d ever ask for that or wish upon it, but it was kind of nice. Usually, you have your bye week early on, and I annoy the hell out of my family because I’m like, ‘No, we have to do this for lunch; we have to do this right now, because when this is over, I’m going like 11, 10 weeks straight.’
“So, it was a little different having [the bye week] in December, where it was almost a little more relaxing because you’ve made so much of the season already and [are] excited to get back now for the best time of the year in football.”
As the season winds down and San Francisco is in the thick of NFC playoff contention, the late bye couldn’t have come at a better time for the injury-riddled 49ers.
McCaffrey, Shanahan and the rest of the team gained some much-needed rest, and San Francisco looks rejuvenated for one of the most crucial stretches of its campaign.
Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast