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The San Francisco 49ers announced Week 3 inactives and Elijah Mitchell is officially INACTIVE for their matchup against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. Mitchell was listed as questionable this week due to a shoulder injury. He was DNP on the practice report for 3 days.
It comes as no surprise that Mitchell was ultimately ruled out of this contest with a shoulder injury. The 49ers would’ve liked him to play with their backfield in turmoil but ultimately ruled him out. Mitchell was presumed to be the starter in this backfield after Raheem Mostert went down. He’ll have to watch Trey Sermon, Jacques Patrick and Kerryon Johnson handle running back duties tonight.
This is a huge opportunity for Sermon, who the team took in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft. The running back has a chance to show he deserves to be the starter going forward over Mitchell, although Kyle Shanahan is unlikely to give up the lead spot due to an injury. Fantasy managers who picked up Sermon can plug him in now if they still have a spot. Managers who held out hope Mitchell would play have to search for other options; hopefully they had a backup plan ready.