Panthers’ Matt Rhule not worried about Christian McCaffrey’s recent injury history, plans to ‘attack’ with RB

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey’s career has been plagued by injuries, leaving many concerned for his future. One person who is not focusing on McCaffrey’s injury history is his head coach, Matt Rhule, who said he will still proceed as normal with the star running back when it comes to playing time.

“I’m not spending my time worrying about, ‘Hey, will Christian get hurt?’” Rhule said Wednesday, via the Associated Press. “We are thinking about Christian in one way only — and that’s attack.”

When healthy, McCaffrey is explosive, but he has been sidelined for much of the past few years. In November of 2021, McCaffrey rolled his ankle and as a result was placed on injured reserve, missing the rest of the season. In September of 2021, the running back suffered a strained hamstring that sidelined him for five games.

In 2020, he missed four games due to a thigh injury, four games due to a shoulder injury and six games following a high-ankle sprain.

In total, he has missed 23 of the past 33 games due to injury, so it would not be shocking if his head coach was worried about an injury ruining another season for the star.

However, Rhule said that injuries come with the territory of playing running back, noting, “He plays a high-contact, high-percentage-of-injury position.” Rhule also called McCaffrey a “dominant, dominant, dominant football player,” emphasizing that he wants him out there to give his team the best chance to win games.

“We’re going to put him out there and play him. We want to have all of our best players for as long as possible,” Rhule said.

McCaffrey is not expected to play during the preseason.