The Patriots don’t travel to the San Francisco 49ers until week four, but it’s likely that New England will keep an eye on Christian McCaffrey’s injury status.

The 49ers’ star running back struggled with a calf/Achilles injury during training camp, which ultimately caused McCaffrey to miss San Francisco’s season-opening win over the New York Jets on Monday night.

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan announced a decision on McCaffrey’s playing time Monday night after his injury report was listed as questionable, which could indicate a return sooner rather than later. However, Shanahan also confirmed there is concern that McCaffrey’s calf injury could linger.

“It’s been holding up the last few weeks, but it’s getting better and hopefully it will be better next week,” Shanahan told reporters, according to a video provided by the team.

Shanahan said McCaffrey hasn’t suffered any setbacks but indicated the team will take it day by day. These early-season games certainly aren’t the primary focus for the Niners, who entered the season with the lowest betting odds to win the Super Bowl.

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“He was able to practice all week. It just bothered him a little bit,” Shanahan said. “Sometimes it goes away, sometimes it comes back. (Monday) it bothered him a little too much, so we didn’t feel good about it.”

While the Patriots have to worry about the Seattle Seahawks (Week 2) and New York Jets (Week 3) before the 49ers, there’s no doubt that McCaffrey’s potential absence could be a major breakout. He’s undoubtedly one of the league’s best offensive weapons and a running back that Jerod Mayo’s team will need to build their game plans around.

New England benefited from the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals were without wide receiver Tee Higgins in their Week 1 victory.