Elijah Mitchell injury update: NFL insider expects 49ers RB to miss 2 months
San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell is expected to miss two months, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Schefter reports Mitchell suffered an MCL sprain, per league sources.
Mitchell underwent an MRI Monday morning to get a clearer picture of the injury, though it’s not 100% clear when it occurred.
The San Jose Mercury News noted:
"How Mitchell got hurt was not immediately known, but it appeared he may have been rolled into by Bears linebacker Nicolas Morrow after Mitchell helped block on Deebo Samuel’s touchdown run."
Mitchell was ruled out at halftime on Sunday against the Bears. At the time he’d racked up 41 yards on six carries for 6.8 runs per carry.
Mitchell was expected to be a key player in the 49ers offense in this, his second, season. As a rookie in 2021, he ran for a team-leading 963 yards on 207 attempts and caught 19 passes for 137 yards. He scored six touchdowns.
At the time of the injury, the 49ers held a 7-0 lead over Chicago. In the second half they were outscored 19-3 in a 19-10 loss.
With Michell out for an uncertain amount of time (guesses are ranging from three to six weeks generally), the pressure will fall to Deebo Samuel and Jeff Wilson to cement the ground game.
The pair combined for 74 yards on 17 carries.
They combined for 659 yards rushing in all of 2021.
So the 49ers’ difficult start to the year got just a little bit worse. Between that and second-year QB Trey Lance’s struggles, coach Kyle Shanahan has his work cut out for him.
San Francisco will host the Seahawks at 1 p.m. PT on Sunday.
