The 49ers will have to navigate their first preseason game carefully. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has said the club isn’t likely to play its starters, and some key non-starters that do play could see very limited action in an effort to stay healthy into the regular season.
With running back Elijah Mitchell sidelined by a hip injury, San Francisco on Monday worked out a quartet of veteran running backs according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
It would make sense if the 49ers wound up signing one of the backs since Christian McCaffrey and Mitchell aren’t likely to suit up against the Raiders for the preseason opener. They may want to limit the touches for Tyrion Davis-Price and Jordan Mason as well since they could both conceivably wind up with outsized roles in the offense this year.
That would leave a pair of undrafted rookies, Khalan Laborn and Ronald Awatt, to shoulder the load for virtually a full preseason game. That’s why one of these four veterans could be headed to the 49ers soon: