Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey has been activated from the Injured Reserve list, making him eligible to play on Sunday against the New England Patriots. However, his playing status remains up in the air.

According to David Newton of ESPN, the Panthers will still evaluate McCaffrey on Sunday morning to determine if he'll be given the green light to play or not. After all, the team doesn't want to have risk reaggravating his injury after already missing five games.

Moreover, should he be allowed to suit up and play, McCaffrey is not expected to fully feature for the team. Apparently, the Panthers could limit his pitch count as they ease him back to game conditioning.

Per ESPN: The staff will evaluate him again on Sunday morning to make sure there have been no setbacks. … If McCaffrey plays, he is expected to be on a pitch count that likely would limit him to fewer than 30 to 40 snaps.

The Panthers have struggled in the absence of Christian McCaffrey, going 1-4 in the games he has missed. With that said, his return is definitely a massive boost to the team looking to climb out of the bottom of NFC South.

If McCaffrey is unable to play in their Week 9 showdown with the Patriots, though, head coach Matt Rhule is not without options since he seems confident about this running back corps. According to the ESPN report, the Panthers tactician wants to keep using and developing rookie Chuba Hubbard, Royce Freeman and Ameer Abdullah.