Christian McCaffrey hopes to return from ankle injury against Chiefs

The Panthers hope to see Christian McCaffrey return on Sunday against the Chiefs.

The Carolina Panthers face a tall order on Sunday in Week 9 as they try to keep up with the surging Kansas City Chiefs, who are hoping to repeat this year as Super Bowl champions. Fortunately they’re getting their most talented player back from injury in practice this week, and head coach Matt Rhule says he hopes that running back Christian McCaffrey will be healthy enough to play at Arrowhead.

McCaffrey has been out for several weeks with a high ankle sprain that has kept him out for most of the first half of the season. For Rhule, who is in his first year with the team, it’s been a tough road to walk without his offensive centerpiece, but the Panthers have, for many games, proven themselves competitive so far in 2020. McCaffrey first went down in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Panthers are currently 3-5 and sit in third place in the NFC South. Without McCaffrey, they are 3-3 although they’ve lost three straight games since reeling off consecutive wins over the Chargers, Cardinals and Falcons. In his place, Mike Davis has handled the bulk of the running game and performed admirably with a 4.2 yards per carry average and 350 total yards with 2 rushing scores.

McCaffrey opened the year with a nice start against the Las Vegas Raiders with 23 carries for 97 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. He also added 3 catches for 38 receiving yards.

Last season, McCaffrey had an incredible season that should have earned more MVP consideration if not for the shadow of Lamar Jackson’s breakout year. He led the NFL with 2,392 yards from scrimmage and 19 total touchdowns. He was named a first team All-Pro at season’s end.

The Panthers and Chiefs kick off at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 8.