In what is the most significant step he has taken in his recovery from Achilles tendinitis, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey returned to practice Monday, Nick Wagoner of ESPN report.

The Niners officially opened McCaffrey's 21-day practice window Monday afternoon, which means he has three weeks to be activated from injured reserve to the 53-man roster.

Sure enough, McCaffrey was on the practice field and warming up with his teammates during a roughly two-minute viewing period open to media. For the better part of the past few weeks, the Niners have pointed to this week for McCaffrey's potential return as he continued to work through the tendinitis that kept him out of the team's first eight games.

While McCaffrey and the 49ers will have time to see how he fares in practice before putting him back in any games, there has been optimism around the team that he will be available Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so long as this week goes well.

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