Elijah Mitchell to Miss the Rest of the Regular Season with an MCL Sprain

The 49ers can't keep their running backs healthy.

Elijah Mitchell sprained his MCL Sunday against the New Orleans Saints and will miss six to eight weeks, meaning the rest of the regular season. He could return some time between the Wild Card round of the playoffs and the NFC Championship game, assuming the 49ers make it that far without him.

Mitchell injured his knee on the first play of the second half and gained six yards on the run, then stayed in the game for one more play before he took himself out. He finishes the season with a rushing average of 5.6 yards per carry, which is outstanding. But he ran the ball just 40 times, because he sprained his other MCL Week 1 and missed the first half of the season.

When Mitchell returned from that MCL sprain, the 49ers were so excited they traded Jeff Wilson Jr. to the Miami Dolphins for a fifth-round pick because they thought they wouldn't need him anymore. In retrospect, the 49ers need Wilson much more right now than a fifth-round pick in the future, considering starting running back Christian McCaffrey also has a knee injury and is day to day and it's unclear how much he will be able to practice or play this week.

Fortunately for the 49ers, they have undrafted rookie running back Jordan Mason, who played so well in training camp and preseason that he beat out Trey Sermon, whom the 49ers drafted in Round 3. On Sunday, Mason closed out the 49ers victory over the Saints with vicious runs between the tackles. He seems extremely powerful and difficult to bring down.

Hopefully the 49ers can keep him healthy.