The oft-injured San Francisco 49ers backfield may have to deal with another hit, as leading rusher Elijah Mitchell has sustained a broken finger.
Coach Kyle Shanahan does not know when Elijah Mitchell was injured. He has played through some tough injuries already this season. He made no mention of the finger injury until this morning.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) November 16, 2021
Matt Barrows of The Athletic tweeted on Tuesday that Mitchell suffered the injury on Monday and the team doctors "seemed optimistic" that the rookie can practice after "getting a pin in the finger but that hasn't been determined yet". Mitchell had a season-high 27 carries during the Niners' week 10 upset of the Los Angeles Rams in week 10, producing 91 scoreless yards.
Through seven games -- including six starts -- Mitchell is leading San Francisco in rushing attempts (116) and rushing yards (560), and is tied with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a team-best three rushing touchdowns. The 23-year-old has also caught all nine of his targets for 73 yards.
Starting running back Raheem Mostert recorded just two carries for 20 yards in the Niners' season-opener before going down with a season-ending knee injury. Rookie Trey Sermon has played seven games and is second on the team with 31 carries for 135 rushing yards, while fourth-year pro Jeff Wilson made his season debut on Monday, rushing 10 times for 28 yards.
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