Running back Elijah Mitchell set a San Francisco 49ers franchise record for the most rushing yards by a rookie despite dealing with several injuries last season. Mitchell did not play during this preseason due to a hamstring injury and an abundance of caution by the Niners. However, he is ready to exceed his productive 2021 campaign and knows staying healthy will help him do that.
"I ain't never going to change my running style," Mitchell told reporters after Monday's practice, "but I've just got to do the right thing in the building, taking care of my body and stuff, getting in the cold tub, hot tub, working with [director of functional performance] Elliott [Williams]. He does a very good job with me. So that's something that I started doing now."
Another way that Mitchell can stay healthy is by limiting the number of hits his body absorbs during games.
"This year, I am focused on trying to make people miss more instead of just running into everybody," Mitchell shared. "So that's one thing I'm working on."
Mitchell admits that he spent most of the offseason healing from the rookie season that saw the running back deal with shoulder, rib, finger, and knee injuries. Then, in April, he underwent a clean-up procedure on his knee.
"They did a very good job with me, of keeping me even on both ways, mentally and physically," he said of his recovery.
Mitchell returned to practice this week and is working on getting ready for the regular-season opener against the Chicago Bears in 13 days.
"The body's good," Mitchell said. "Me running on the sideline is very different from actually being in there hitting people and going through the line, so I'm just trying to get that back."
Mitchell led the team with 963 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns on 207 carries last season. He also caught 19 of the 20 pass attempts thrown in his direction, racking up 137 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.
San Francisco heads into the 2022 season with a deep running back room. The team added Ty Davis-Price out of LSU in the third round of the draft, further bolstering the position group. Mitchell was asked which 49ers running backs caught his eye as he observed from the sidelines.
"[Jordan Mason], Ty, they both did a hell of a job of running the ball," Mitchell responded. "Like I said, we have a full room, and we all can really ball."