Is Elijah Mitchell playing tonight? 49ers star's status for NFC Championship game revealed
The San Francisco 49ers are headed to the NFC Championship game this afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field to face the No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles. While it will be Brock Purdy at quarterback leading the offense, there was a question about the running back situation all week.
Just hours before kickoff, ESPN's NFL insider Adam Schefter tweeted about 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell's status ahead of the title game. Schefter said that San Francisco had listed Mitchel as inactive for this afternoon.
49ers’ RB Elijah Mitchell is inactive today.
This indicates that running back Christian McCaffrey will get most of the touches in Sunday's game. Tevin Coleman and Jordan Mason will be the other two running backs active for Sunday's championship game. Coleman was activated from the practice squad this week. This will be the veteran's ninth playoff game, and his experience will be helpful for the young offense.
Christian McCaffrey missed a few practice sessions at the beginning of the week due to a right calf bruise that he suffered against the Dallas Cowboys.
Fans were anxious to see whether McCaffrey or Mitchell would be ready for the big game. But McCaffrey was a full participant in practice on Friday, which was a good sign that he would be prepared to suit up for the title game. This last-minute announcement shows that Mitchell won't be an available offensive weapon for rookie quarterback Brock Purdy on Sunday.
What happened to 49ers RB Elijah Mitchell?
In last week's NFC divisional game against the Dallas Cowboys, running back Elijah Mitchell suffered a groin injury. He didn't practice at all this week, leaving his status for Sunday's NFC Championship game in doubt.
This isn't the first injury that Mitchell has dealt with this season. He suffered a sprained knee in the San Francisco 49ers' Week 1 game and another knee injury in late November. These injuries have kept him out of all but five San Francisco 49ers games this season. This was one of the main reasons San Francisco traded for running back Christian McCaffrey.
Niners RB Elijah Mitchell (groin) inactive for NFC title game vs. Eagles
nfl.com/news/49ers-rb-… https://t.co/rLdl2ZXXF4
In the team's NFC wild-card game against the Seattle Seahawks and the NFC divisional game against the Dallas Cowboys, Mitchell has a combined 23 carries for 53 total yards. He did have a touchdown against the Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs. But this injury has him out for yet another game for San Francisco this season.