Christian McCaffrey exited Thursday's game against the Houston Texans with a hamstring injury, but it doesn't appear it will keep him out long.
According to Carolina head coach Matt Rhule, via team reporter Darin Gantt, the Panthers are not expecting McCaffrey to go on injured reserve.
Now, there's still a possibility that McCaffrey misses some time, but the fact that he's not going on IR suggests he dodged a serious injury. That's very promising for both the team and player, especially after McCaffrey missed 13 games last season with quad, ankle and shoulder injuries.
McCaffrey is a pivotal part of the Panthers offense, so you can bet they'll be careful with him. Since he garners so many touches in both the running and the passing game, he takes a beating pretty much every week. While Carolina can't take things too slow with him, the team is able to not have to force him back out right away.
Also helping matters is that the Panthers played Thursday and won't play again until Sunday, so McCaffrey is being afforded a little extra downtime than what he otherwise would.
