As the 49ers get set to embark on a one-off, cross-country trip to face the Jacksonville Jaguars, a few injury questions are still looming.
Chief among those questions is the status of rookie running back Elijah Mitchell, who fractured a finger on Monday night and underwent surgery on Tuesday to have a pin put in place. He did not practice on Wednesday and was in a blue non-contact jersey in Thursday’s practice.
General manager John Lynch joined KNBR on Friday morning, providing multiple expectations for injured players. He indicated that we won’t have a definitive answer until Sunday for Mitchell.
“He had a type of break that they felt like had some encouragement that he would be able to function with it,” Lynch said. “But you never know until you do that and then the surgery might be a little different than what we anticipated… pain tolerance is not an issue with him. He also has got to be able to function and carrying the football is very important and so we will see. I think that’s something you take all the way — he’s earned that right even as a rookie, to take it all the way down to game time.”
Another point of interest is the looming return of safety Jaquiski Tartt. Kyle Shanahan on Wednesday was noncommittal about whether Tartt would get his starting strong safety job back immediately over rookie Talanoa Hufanga.
Given the increased usage of three-safety sets by the 49ers this season, Lynch pointed towards a likelihood that both will play against the Jaguars, but didn’t indicate who would start.
“I think we’re gonna have a situation where all those guys are going to play and I think that’s a good thing,” Lynch said. “Tartt was playing well when he got hurt and Hufanga came in and I think he’s got a way in which he plays that I think kind of inspires our defense, inspires our team for that matter. And so we you know, we can’t get him off the field, but Tartt is a very good player as well. So I think there’ll be some combination.”
Lastly, there’s rookie tackle Jaylon Moore, who suffered a knee injury in the first half of the Rams game and was replaced by veteran guard/tackle Tom Compton.
This was the most intriguing answer by Lynch, who said, “I think we could see a situation where they both play.”
Rotation is not a common strategy at tackle, but Lynch raved about Moore’s play on the first series, before his injury, as well as his mentality. He also highlighted Compton’s versatility, giving no clear sign as to who will start.
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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