The San Francisco 49ers will be without their first-string running back in preseason action as Elijah Mitchell has suffered a hamstring injury. But, fans don't need to worry quite yet.

Per Adam Schefter, he's expected to be ready for Week 1 against the Chicago Bears on September 11th.

The 49ers actually begin preseason on Friday against the Packers. Mitchell is still dealing with the hamstring setback and is focused on just getting back to 100% for the games that truly matter. He's one of several starters not suiting up vs. Green Bay, including Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams, and George Kittle, among others.

Mitchell underwent a procedure in April to clean up his knee after a physical rookie campaign, where he rushed for 963 yards on 207 touches and five touchdowns. He led the team in rushing yards in 2021.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed on August 1st that Mitchell is “still getting healthy” after missing OTAs. Via 49ers Web Zone:

“Elijah's just getting back healthy,” Shanahan said. “We didn't get him in OTAs. He did a lot of good things last year, but he was also banged up throughout the year. So Elijah is just trying to get back to [100 percent] health. Once he is healthy, now he's got to get into the routine of how to practice each day, how to do what he needs to do to play running back for the longevity of a year.”

Elijah Mitchell is an important piece of the puzzle for the 49ers. Getting him in tip-top shape for the regular season is the number one priority.