49ers inactives vs. Cardinals: Deebo Samuel in, Elijah Mitchell out

The 49ers will happily have Deebo Samuel available after he dealt with a couple of injuries, but they'll be a little shorthanded at running back with Elijah Mitchell out.

The San Francisco 49ers experienced something of a slight scare during their Week 3 Thursday Night Football victory over the New York Giants when star wide receiver Deebo Samuel went down in pain during the second half.

Samuel was able to get off the field under his own power and returned a short while later, subsequently telling reporters the blow to his ribs wasn't that big of a deal.

Combined with some knee soreness experienced after the game, however, there was a reasonable doubt he might miss the Niners' Week 4 contest against the Arizona Cardinals despite having 10 days of rest.

San Francisco was already without its top wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk (shoulder), against the G-Men. So, the prospects for having both receivers available against a scrappy 1-2 Arizona squad weren't promising. Especially when both were listed on the 49ers' Week 4 injury report.

Aiyuk was, however, cleared from the injury report on Friday. Samuel, meanwhile, remained questionable.

Early on Sunday morning, though, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Samuel would play despite the questionable designation and barring any setbacks.

Yet the Niners had some not-so-good news elsewhere on the injury front.

49ers inactives vs. Cardinals: Elijah Mitchell, Jauan Jennings ruled OUT

With Samuel and Aiyuk both in, San Francisco's wide receiver room looks solid enough, but the absence of another weapon (especially on third downs), Jauan Jennings, left the room a bit shorthanded.

Including Jennings, here are the 49ers' inactive players for Week 4:

• WR Jauan Jennings
• RB Elijah Mitchell
• QB Brandon Allen
• OL Nick Zakelj
• DL Kalia Davis
• LB Jalen Graham
• CB Anthony Brown

Related story: 4 bold predictions for Sunday's contest between the 49ers, Cardinals

Mitchell suffered a knee injury during practice, which doesn't bode well for the oft-injured tailback who now finds himself No. 2 on the depth chart to All-Pro Christian McCaffrey.

With Mitchell out, and to avoid overusing McCaffrey, expect the Niners to feature a lot more of Jordan Mason and perhaps a bit of Tyrion Davis-Price, who is making his first appearance this season after being a healthy scratch the first three weeks.

Additionally, San Francisco promoted wide receiver Willie Snead up from the practice squad to alleviate Jennings' absence.

The 49ers and Cardinals kick off on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 4:25 p.m. ET from Levi's Stadium.

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