What It Means:

Mitchell suffered his second MCL sprain of the season in Sunday's win over the Saints, and is now expected to miss another 6-8 weeks. The second-year back has had unfortunate injury luck since entering the league, but did show that he can run with the best of them when he played alongside Christian McCaffrey in recent games.

Mitchell has averaged a top-notch 5.6 yards per carry so far this season, but it looks like he could be sidelined up until the NFL playoffs. His absence could skew even more touches to McCaffrey, though the 49ers have previously mentioned their intent not to overwork the former Panther.