How Christian McCaffrey’s return has re-energized the 49ers coming off a bye week

The San Francisco 49ers are coming off their bye week to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers here in Week 10, looking to build some momentum after a 30-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys back in Week 8.

Standing at 4-4, the 49ers enter a crucial stretch to start the second half of the season, as they face four tough opponents with the Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks , Green Bay Packers , and Buffalo Bills being their next few matchups.

However, the team seems to be getting some crucial reinforcements sooner than later, as running back Christian McCaffrey had his practice window activated, and has looked healthy and good to go early in the week.

What has McCaffrey's return meant to the 49ers?

"Yeah, it's been awesome man," quarterback Brock Purdy said about having McCaffrey back. "Just what he brings to the table and really just firing everyone else up around. All of us coming off a bye week and feeling good and fresh and then you get 23 next to you in the backfield, it's been awesome [and] hooks great moving around. He's trending in the right direction so we're excited to see what happens."

That sentiment has been felt throughout the building, as offensive line coach Chris Foerster acknowledged how much everything gets better when a player of McCaffrey's caliber returns.

"Everything's an uptick with Christian [McCaffrey back]," Foerster said ahead of Week 10. "I'm not going to joke. Everything gets a little bit better with him, obviously."

"It's always good to have a great player back on the field working with you. And when he's out there, he practices so hard, and everything's right. That's the thing you see," the offensive line coach continued. "He hits the hole right in time, perfect timing, perfect pacing of the play, catches some balls down the field, and seeing things like that."

Through the first half of the season, Brock Purdy has had a different type of season, holding on to the ball longer, as he currently has the second-highest time to throw in the NFL.

But, with McCaffrey around, the quarterback should feel more comfortable looking towards his checkdown, which should make the offense more efficient as a whole.

"[He makes a big difference] in the pass game," Purdy said. "We do a lot of stuff where he makes a decision based off a defender and then just being on the same page and that kind of stuff, it's syncing back up into that kind of world, but obviously he's really smart and it's been a pretty good transition so far."

"But more than anything, we have really good playmakers across the board, and we're going to try to get the ball into all our guys' hands at the right time, in the right situation. It's always nice, though, knowing that I can go through my read and come back down to Christian."

What will it take for McCaffrey to play this weekend, which has started to seem more and more likely?

"That he's just Christian McCaffrey and he's not hurting," head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Wednesday. "But as long as everything goes well, it has in the rehab. So, just as long as he doesn't get sore and have setbacks each day with practice, usually if you get that in practice, that means it's going to be worse in the game. So hopefully he can string together three days in a row and not have any of those."

McCaffrey isn't the only player back, as the 49ers also got fellow weapon Jauan Jennings back to practice after the wide receiver missed some time with a hip injury. Now that the core group has returned to the field, it's a new look for San Francisco's offense going into the second half of the season.

"Got Christian back, got JJ back," wide receiver Deebo Samuel said. "Two of our main guys that we needed to come back, and it's all hands on deck right now."

The 49ers elected not to make many moves at the trade deadline, instead relying more on the players they have in their building, as well as the reinforcements expected back from injuries.

McCaffrey should be a big return for the team, and it seems his impact may be felt as soon as Sunday, which will be important for San Francisco as they look to go on a run to start the second half.