49ers' Christian McCaffrey draws major concern after first practice

When asked about McCaffrey’s health during Thursday's post-practice press conference, head coach Kyle Shanahan stated, “Right now, he’s healthy as can be.”

Shanahan continued by giving a glimpse into McCaffrey's process during OTAs.

“We’ve got to protect him from himself, but Christian has a good idea of what he needs to do right now," said Shanahan. "He’s doing a lot less than he normally would do, but I know he is excited about how healthy he feels and the fact that he can get out there.”

Shanahan gave a clear indication as to why McCaffrey may look slower — he is simply doing less than he usually would. McCaffrey is not a player to take snaps off or shift down into third gear; he's famous for needing the coaching staff to pry him off the field.

49ers’ general manager John Lynch reacted to the idea of McCaffrey looking slow Friday morning on Bay Area radio station KNBR.

“He looks really good to me, Lynch said with a laugh. “He looks bouncy. He looks explosive. I can tell you this: he’s put in the work and looks great out here.”

The 49ers are approximately four months away from the start of the season. Why would their star RB, with nothing to prove, or any star player for that matter, be running at 100 percent in practice without pads or in drills with no defensive line?

It may become more evident that McCaffrey, a nearly 29-year-old running back with just under 2,000 career touches and coming off two lower-body injuries, is slowing down, but not on the first day of OTAs.