The San Francisco 49ers think running back Christian McCaffrey will have the chance to return after the bye week.

49ers general manager John Lynch said on KNBR on Tuesday that McCaffrey has “a little bit of a strain in the hamstring area,” and that the team feels good about the outlook. McCaffrey left the field for treatment multiple times in Sunday’s 29-20 loss to the Falcons and missed some snaps, but kept playing. He finished with 13 touches for 100 yards and a touchdown.

“It wasn’t until after the game that we got some clarity. I think he’s got a little bit of a strain in the hamstring area. If you ask Christian, that’s just because they dug in it so hard during the game to try to keep him going, and he wanted to keep going. Again, the bye comes at a good time for that. I think the images were on the good side, so we feel good about at least having an opportunity when we come back from this bye, but we’ll make sure Christian’s right. We need him for the long haul, just like we do all our players.”

Lynch said seeing McCaffrey keep playing actually made him feel better about the injury. Head coach Kyle Shanahan called it a mild hamstring strain on Monday and indicated McCaffrey should be ready after the bye. McCaffrey, meanwhile, said after the game that his leg "died" on him.

McCaffrey has been a driving force for the offense. He has 389 rushing yards and a league-leading eight rushing touchdowns on 4.6 yards per carry, plus 34 catches for 251 yards.

If the 49ers need to lean on their backups, Lynch is confident in the group, including rookie Kaelon Black and Jordan James.