Christian McCaffrey happy to be back on field and making plays to help 49ers win in his season debut

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Christian McCaffery felt good physically. He’ll wait until he has a chance to watch some tape before deciding how good he looked in his season debut.

San Francisco’s star running back returned to the lineup after missing the first eight games of the season and rushed for 39 yards on 13 carries and caught six passes for 68 yards in the 49ers’ 23-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

“I’m just happy I’m here,” McCaffery said. “That was a long journey and a lot of long days, so it feels good to win and it feels good to just play in a football game again.”

Last season’s AP Offensive Player of the Year had been sidelined since early September due to Achilles tendinitis.

Sunday’s game, which gave the 49ers (5-4) consecutive victories for the firs...
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