ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey suffered a knee injury that coach Kyle Shanahan described as “potentially” season-ending in the 49ers' 35-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
Shanahan said McCaffrey is believed to have injured his posterior cruciate ligament, which connects the thigh bone to the shin. He said he had no timetable for McCaffrey's return but acknowledged the All-Pro's season could be over.
“I’m not exactly sure yet. I think PCL is usually a couple weeks, but I’m not exactly sure yet,” Shanahan said.
It's the latest setback in a frustrating season for the 2023 offensive player of the year, who missed the Niners' first eight games with Achilles tendinitis and has not been his usual explosive self since returning.
McCaffrey stepped awkwardly on a sweep to the left on a snow-slicked field and went down almost immediately for a 5-yard loss. He went to the sideline and was examined in the medical tent before limping toward the locker room. The Niners announced before the start of the third quarter that he would not return.
McCaffrey's 19-yard run in the first quarter was his longest of the season, and he had seven carries for 53 yards and two catches for 14 yards before getting hurt.
San Francisco also ruled out defensive lineman Kevin Givens with a chest injury, and linebacker Fred Warner left the game briefly with cramps before returning.
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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) hands off to running back Christian McCaffrey during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, middle, runs against the Buffalo Bills during the first half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) runs against Buffalo Bills safety Taylor Rapp, bottom, during the first half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A third night of protests in the Georgian capital against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union left 44 people hospitalized, officials said Sunday.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament Saturday night, throwing stones and setting off fireworks, while police deployed water cannons and tear gas. An effigy of the founder of the governing Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili — a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — was burned in front of the legislature.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that 27 protesters, 16 police and one media worker were hospitalized.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned that “any violation of the law will be met with the full rigor of the law.”
"Neither will those politicians who hide in their offices and sacrifice members of their violent groups to severe punishment escape responsibility,” he said at a briefing Sunday.
He insisted it wasn't true that Georgia’s European integration had been halted. "The only thing we have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail, which was, in fact, a significant obstacle to our country’s European integration.” The government’s announcement came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing last month’s general election in Georgia as neither free nor fair.
Kobakhidze also dismissed the U.S. State Department’s statement Saturday that it was suspending its strategic partnership with Georgia. The statement condemned Georgia’s decision to halt its efforts toward EU accession.
“You can see that the outgoing administration is trying to leave the new administration with as difficult a legacy as possible. They are doing this regarding Ukraine, and now also concerning Georgia,” Kobakhidze said. “This will not have any fundamental significance. We will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with them.”
Kobakhidze also confirmed that Georgia’s ambassador to the U.S., David Zalkaliani, had become the latest of a number of diplomats to stand down since the protests started.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and enlargement commissioner Marta Kos released a joint statement Sunday on the Georgian government’s decision to suspend negotiations.
“We note that this announcement marks a shift from the policies of all previous Georgian governments and the European aspirations of the vast majority of the Georgian people, as enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia,” the statement said.
It reiterated the EU's “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country” and urged Georgian authorities to “respect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and refrain from using force against peaceful protesters, politicians and media representatives.”
The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, has sparked major demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.
The opposition has said that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial master, with Moscow hoping to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.
Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, Georgia's pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili said that her country was becoming a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream controlled the major institutions.
“We are not demanding a revolution. We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” Zourabichvili said.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations, but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.
Police use a water cannon to block protesters holding Georgian national flags during a rally against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
A demonstrator fires a firecracker towards police during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
A demonstrator uses a firecrackers against police during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police block a street to prevent protesters during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police use a water cannon to block protesters during a rally against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Protesters with Georgian national flags shout toward police during a rally against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police officers detain a demonstrator at a subway station during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Demonstrators go down an escalator to hide from the police in a subway station during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Demonstrators run to hide from the police in a subway station during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police use a water cannon on protesters during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
A masked demonstrator throws an object toward police during a rally against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police officers detain journalist Giorgi Chamelishvili during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police officers detain demonstrators at a subway station during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
A demonstrator uses firecrackers against police as protesters rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Demonstrators stand near a fire during a rally outside the parliament's building to protest the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
A demonstrator runs through tear gas clouds during a rally outside the parliament's building to protest the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Protesters run away from police as they rally against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police block a street against protesters rallying against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police block a street to prevent protesters rallying against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Two women hold an EU and Georgian national flag as protesters rally against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
A demonstrator gestures as police block a street as protesters rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Demonstrators fire a firecracker towards police during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Demonstrators use firecrackers against police during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
