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49ers Injury Updates: Running backs galore, could Frank Gore become an option?

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© Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports


The NFL season is underway and that means there are 49ers injuries to talk about. So far, it’s the backfields which haven taken the brunt of the early-season beatdown, with both Jason Verrett and Raheem Mostert already done for the season.

Emmanuel Moseley has also missed the first two games of the season with a knee injury, and three of the 49ers’ running backs suffered injuries against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

On Monday, the 49ers signed running back Chris Thompson and defensive lineman Eddie Yarbrough to the practice squad, and released tight end Jordan Matthews.

That makes the current running back depth chart look roughly like this:

Active roster:

  • Elijah Mitchell – questionable, shoulder injury — Shanahan said Monday that it was “a little worse” than what was expected to be a stinger, but that he has a chance to play Sunday.
  • JaMycal Hasty – OUT, high ankle sprain – he will likely go on injured reserve
  • Trey Sermon – questionable, concussion — “on a good path” according to Shanahan, wore a blue non-contact jersey and participated in individual drills only on Monday
  • Trenton Cannon – was picked up off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens last week, played mostly as a kick returner, had one carry, snap on offense
  • Jacques Patrick – recently acquired from the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad, not on injury report

Practice squad:

  • Kerryon Johnson – was signed to the practice squad last week, was a former second-round pick by the Lions in 2018, suffered knee injuries with Detroit which hampered his career
  • Chris Thompson – played with Shanahan in Washington, is a 30-year-old veteran. Not the Chris Thompson who was on the team’s practice squad over the last few seasons

The plan at running back is not yet clear, given that both Mitchell and Sermon could still play and Hasty has yet to be placed on injured reserve. Shanahan said there’s a chance neither of those two could play, meaning the 49ers would be down to their sixth running back, factoring in Jeff Wilson Jr., who is supposed to make a return in November.

Asked about the acquisition of Patrick, who graded poorly in every trackable combine statistic other than size, Shanahan said the team’s scouting staff and coaches all agreed he was the best fit. He said they’ve been sort of spoiled with Raheem Mostert and shaped the run game around him.

“I think Raheem changed up a lot of stuff,” Shanahan said. “With Raheem and his speed, we get used to having that and you start to design stuff for that, which I don’t think many people in the world can do. But we’ve never said we have to have guys who run 4.3s. It’s really never been like that if you look at the history of some of our runners and stuff. It’s just kind of morphed into that recently. But we just look for who we thought the best runner would be and they come in all different shapes and sizes.”

Below are the other injuries the 49ers are dealing with:

Did not practice:

JaMycal Hasty – high ankle sprain

Kevin Givens – high ankle sprain, likely to go on injured reserve along with Hasty

Elijah Mitchell – shoulder

Arik Armstead – abductor

Jimmie Ward – not injury related, rest

Fred Warner – not injury related, rest

Trent Williams – not injury related, rest

Limited: 

Javon Kinlaw – knee

Emmanuel Moseley – knee, hoped to return this week

Trey Sermon – concussion