Elijah Mitchell’s Knee to Hold Him Out vs….

The San Francisco 49ers will be without Elijah Mitchell for the second-straight game. The rookie has been in the concussion protocol after taking a hit to the head in Week 13 and notably, is also working through a knee injury sustained in the same game.

Mitchell is at the tail end of the protocol and should be cleared as early as Friday afternoon, however, the knee irritation is what has been worrisome. Per head coach Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers aren’t certain the running back will even be back to full strength ahead of their quick turnaround for a Thursday night tilt in Tennessee.

“I’m not optimistic, but I hope so,” Shanahan said. “It’s just the pain tolerance with the knee. We thought it would have gone down faster and it hasn’t as quickly as we thought it would.”

Sunday was scheduled to be a favorable matchup for Mitchell as San Francisco is scheduled to face off against an Atlanta Falcons defense that is allowing over 117 yards to opposing offenses, the 23rd-worst mark in the league.

The 49ers will lean on Jeff Wilson Jr. and JaMycal Hasty to man San Francisco’s backfield. Deebo Samuel, who has registered 218 yards and five touchdowns rushing over the last four games to 146 yards and one score receiving, will likely provide added relief to the 49ers ground game.

Standout linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has been ruled doubtful heading into Sunday. After a strong start in Week 14, Al-Shaair exited the contest near the end of the third quarter after making an attempted tackle and did not return. After undergoing imaging on Monday, the linebacker suffered an elbow sprain, which has held him out of the week’s practices. He’ll need to make significant strides over the weekend if he is expected to play on Sunday.

The team will be already be without fellow linebacker Dre Greenlaw for the third-straight week as he continues to nurse a re-aggravated groin injury. That leaves Fred Warner, Marcell Harris, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and Tyrell Adams as the lone healthy linebackers on the active roster heading into the weekend.

As for Atlanta, safety Erik Harris (chest) has officially been ruled OUT and outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. (calf) is questionable for Sunday.

Here’s a look at the final injury report heading into #ATLvsSF.