San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who missed his team’s first eight games with Achilles tendinitis, is expected to return Sunday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan delivered that news on KNBR’s Tolbert & Copes show.

The 49ers opened McCaffrey’s 21-day practice window on Monday, offering hope that he’d be good to go soon.

Shanahan is clearly encouraged by what he’s seen in practice Wednesday and Thursday, both of which featured the running back turning in limited sessions. And now McCaffrey is in line to play his first game since the Super Bowl last February.

McCaffrey dominated for the NFC champions last year, totaling 2,023 yards from scrimmage and 21 touchdowns in 2023, helping the 49ers win the NFC title. He added 420 total yards and five more scores during the run to the Super Bowl.

The reigning Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year missed all of training camp with the aforementioned injury, but he still appeared good to for the season. However, he was declared out for the team’s season opener against the New York Jets, landed on IR and proceeded to miss two months.

In his place, Jordan Mason has excelled with 771 total yards and three touchdowns. He’s been efficient on the ground with 685 yards on 134 carries (5.1 YPC). And then there’s rookie Isaac Guerendo and his 227 rushing yards on 37 carries for 6.1 YPC.

So the ground game has remained rolling, but welcoming back CMC is certainly a boost for a 4-4 49ers team fighting for an NFC West title. The division is literally separated by one game from first (5-4 Arizona Cardinals) to last (4-5 Seattle Seahawks), and McCaffrey can certainly help vault the 49ers to the top.

For now, he looks in line to play Sunday. How much he plays is up for debate, but he’s back, and that’s huge for the 49ers as they begin the second half of the year.