Everyone knew Christian McCaffrey would take a huge role with the San Francisco 49ers when he arrived. But the extent to which he has been used so far this season has been higher than expected, leaving Elijah Mitchell out to dry.

Kyle Shanahan takes the blame for the issue, saying he should have gotten Mitchell more touches after giving him zero snaps in Week 2. He played 10 the prior week, rushing five times for 10 yards. McCaffrey, meanwhile, had 20 rush attempts in the 49ers' Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Rams. He's the RB1 but San Fran doesn’t always want to use him like an old-school workhorse.

For insight on the 49ers' Week 3 matchup against the Giants, listen below:

McCaffrey is no stranger to playing the whole game but knows that isn’t the norm. He was asked about what type of workload works best for him and said that getting the lion's share of the snaps is uncommon. The 49ers superstar added that there will be times when Mitchell gets his share depending on how the games go.

“I think it's all dependent on how the game is going,” the 49ers superstar said. “We had a lot of breaks last game. Sometimes, that's just how it goes. There's gonna be games, too, where Mitchell [gets] four or five carries in a row on multiple drives because he's playing well and he's feeling it, and I'll be out. It's really such a situational thing. I don't think it's ever a plan for one of us to get all the carries or not. It's just, sometimes, that's just how the games go.”

Mitchell rushed for 963 yards in 2021, his rookie year, before being limited to just five games last year due to an MCL sprain last season. He's a key player for the 49ers and should get his fair share of playing time, especially with injury concerns with McCaffrey still lingering. Mitchell dealing with an abductor injury this offseason shouldn’t mean that he's a healthy scratch.

The 49ers will have a great chance to get Mitchell some work in Week 3, when they host the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football. They should get ahead early against a feeble Giants squad and get Mitchell more chances, even if it's only to preserve McCaffrey.