CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey was looking forward to returning from a shoulder injury to face the Denver Broncos team he grew up watching his dad play for from 1995 to 2003
Now it looks like a quad injury that occurred last week while training during the bye and flared up on Wednesday will put that on hold to another season.
"At this point, I don't expect him to play,'' Panthers coach Matt Rhule told reporters Thursday.
McCaffrey didn't practice on Thursday, and he was limited Wednesday after the quad had tightened on him. He spent Thursday rehabbing at the stadium and will continue to do so the rest of the week, but Rhule isn't optimistic it will heal in time for Sunday's game.
"I'm going to monitor it,'' Rhule said. "Nobody knows their body better than Christian, so I'll wait to see how the rehab goes.''
McCaffrey has played just three games this season. He missed six games with a high ankle sprain suffered in a Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and missed three more with the shoulder injury suffered in his return against the Kansas City Chiefs.
ESPN's David Newton contributed to this report.