Anticipated for nine weeks, Christian McCaffrey's return to action has produced largely underwhelming results.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan believes there have been some unrealistic expectations, but likewise admits McCaffrey's been harder on himself than anyone -- and that's what makes CMC outstanding, Grant Gordon of NFL.com reports.

Following a Week 12 loss to the Green Bay Packers in which he rushed for just 31 yards -- his lowest output since Week 4 of the 2022 season with the Carolina Panthers -- McCaffrey stewed at his locker. It was a reaction that his head coach appreciates because he thinks it fuels his All-Pro back.

"I think that's what makes Christian great," Shanahan said Wednesday, via team transcript. "Christian, I've told you guys, he's a psycho in the best way possible. Christian had a fumble there at the end of the game. No matter what I say to him, he is not going to forgive himself for a fumble for probably the rest of his life, he'll still be mad at himself for that. That's just how he rolls. That's his mindset in everything. You should see him in OTAs, if he drops the ball and how he acts after that and apologizing to us later in the day for a dropped ball in OTAs on period one. That's what makes him great and it means a lot to him."

That greatness has rarely been glimpsed in his three 2024 games, though. It was briefly viewed in the fourth quarter of the Packers loss when McCaffrey gained 23 yards on a Brandon Allen pass. But it ended with a lost fumble, as mentioned by Shanahan.

"The speculation on Christian, I think, is a little bit unfair to him," Shanahan said. "Christian's playing very well, he is playing his ass off. But to think a guy who misses an entire offseason is just going to be the exact same the day he gets back would be unfair to any player in the world, I feel like.

"Guys who miss offseasons and miss training camp, usually it takes them a little bit of time at the beginning of the year to get back into how they were the year before, let alone missing half the season also on top of that. So, I think Christian's doing a hell of a job. But to just think him coming back in Week 8 with not being able to do anything for the last nine months or whatever it is, and to think he's just going to be in MVP form is a very unrealistic expectation."

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