NFL Player News

Coach Kyle Shanahan hopes Mostert (ankle) will be available for the 49ers' next game Sunday, Nov. 29 versus the Rams, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Shanahan echoed the same thoughts about Tevin Coleman (knee), which would give San Francisco its top two running backs following its Week 11 bye. If that happens, the backfield could be composed of Mostert, Coleman, Jerick McKinnon (neck) and Austin Walter, with Jeff Wilson (ankle) and JaMycal Hasty (collarbone) still on IR.

The 49ers placed Hasty (collarbone) on injured reserve Tuesday.

Now that he's on IR, Hasty will need to remain there for three weeks before the team can open a 21-day window to return him to the active roster. With the 49ers on bye Week 11, he'll potentially only miss two games as a result, with his earliest possible next appearance lining up to be Sunday, Dec. 13 against Washington. Currently, San Francisco has one fully healthy RB in Austin Walter, two injured backs -- Tevin Coleman (knee) and Jerick McKinnon (neck) -- on the active roster, and three backfield options -- Raheem Mostert (ankle), Jeff Wilson (ankle) and Hasty -- on IR.

Kelley carried the ball seven times for 21 yards in the 29-21 loss Sunday to the Dolphins.

After seeing a season high in snaps last week, Kelley completely fell to the wayside in favor of Kalen Ballage. At this point, it's clear the Chargers are trying to pivot away from giving meaningful opportunities for the rookie running back, which makes sense considering Kelley is averaging just 3.2 yards-per-carry across nearly 100 attempts this year. With the imminent return of Austin Ekeler (hamstring), it wouldn't be surprising at all to see Ballage replace Kelley as the between-the-tackles back, essentially rendering the 22-year-old tough to roster in most fantasy formats.

Freeman ran for 11 yards on two carries and added two catches on two targets for 15 yards during Sunday's loss in Las Vegas.

Box scores can be deceiving. On the surface, Freeman garnered as many touches Sunday as Phillip Lindsay and produced 24 more yards. In reality, three of Freeman's touches came during Denver's final drive of the game in a blowout loss. The third-year back remains a solid option in the passing game both as a blocker and receiver, a necessity given Lindsay's struggles in both areas. Sunday was not the beginning of a shift toward more Freeman in Denver's offense, however. Expect his work to be limited primarily to third downs Sunday against Miami, as his ability to pick up blitzes should be useful against an aggressive Dolphins defense.

Clement rushed once for five yards in Sunday's 27-17 loss to the Giants.

Clement is primarily a special-teams player with Miles Sanders now back healthy. Even in the three games this season in which the 26-year-old has seen double-digit snaps, he has failed to top six carries or 24 rushing yards.

Cook rushed 30 times for 96 yards and caught all four of his targets for 16 yards in Monday night's 19-13 win over the Bears.

Cook was smothered by a swarming Chicago defense for the majority of Monday's game, but he finally broke off some longer runs with opposing lineman Akiem Hicks (hamstring) sidelined during the fourth quarter. With the Vikings protecting a late lead, they also turned to Cook to bleed the clock, enabling him to match his season high with 30 carries. Overall, that volume along with his four receptions helped Cook top 100 yards from scrimmage once again, salvaging production despite not scoring for the first time this season. After that tough matchup, Cook will now look forward to Week 11's game against a Cowboys defense that's allowed the second-most rushing yards per game thus far.

Patterson returned a kickoff for a touchdown while rushing 11 times for 28 yards in the Bears' 19-13 loss to the Vikings on Monday.

Although he easily led the Bears in rushing attempts, Patterson placed his stamp on this game by taking the opening kickoff of the second half to the house. His eight career touchdowns on kickoff returns tie him for the most ever with Josh Cribbs and Leon Washington. However, aside from leagues that provide scoring for return yardage, he remains a low-floor weekly fantasy option. With the Bears on bye in Week 11, he'll likely go back to seeing a few touches per game if David Montgomery returns from his concussion.

Williams had his first NFL carries in the waning moments of the Bengals' loss to the Steelers on Sunday, rushing five times for 22 yards.

The game was well out of reach when Williams got his carries in the fourth quarter, helping the Bengals tack on a Sad Field Goal at the end of the game. He received seven special-teams snaps in addition to his five carries.

Laird had two carries for 19 yards during Sunday's 29-21 win over the Chargers.

Laird served as Miami's No. 2 running back Sunday, but he didn't see much action outside of spelling Salvon Ahmed (21 carries for 85 yards and a score). With Jordan Howard no longer on the team, Laird could see a slightly expanded depth role. On the other hand, both Matt Breida (hamstring) and Myles Gaskin (knee) could return to the backfield over the next few weeks, at which point Laird may become completely uninvolved on offense.

Walter had one carry for three yards and caught his lone target for 27 yards in Sunday's 27-13 loss to the Saints.

Walter was signed from the practice squad for the second week in a row, but he was able to actually get involved in the game plan for the first time this season. The 24-year-old received the first touches of his pro career Sunday, so it's tough to tell what the 49ers have in the youngster. He did show soft hands during his time at Rice, so he could serve a third-down role even if either of Raheem Mostert (ankle) or Tevin Coleman (knee) are healed up after the upcoming bye week. Both of the backs ahead of him on the depth chart Sunday (Jerick McKinnon and JaMycal Hasty) also suffered injuries, so we could even see Walter starting against the Rams in Week 12 if the stable of injured backs are unable to return to action.