49ers activate Elijah Mitchell, Azeez Al-Shaair, two others from IR ahead of Chargers game

As expected, the San Francisco 49ers have officially activated four players off the injured reserve list. They are running back Elijah Mitchell, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, offensive lineman Colton McKivitz, and defensive end Jordan Willis. All are returning from knee injuries.

On Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan informed reporters that the 49ers planned to activate all four ahead of Sunday’s game. The 49ers also elevated defensive lineman T.Y. McGill from the practice squad.

Mitchell has not played since Week 1. San Francisco placed him on injured reserve on September 13. Willis was placed on injured reserve on September 14. Al-Shaair suffered his injury during Week 3 and landed on injured reserve on October 3. McKivitz ended up on injured reserve on October 8 after suffering his injury during Week 4.

The latest activations come ahead of Sunday night’s Week 10 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers. San Francisco is currently favored by 7.5 points.

The 49ers have activated six of their eight allowed from the injured reserve list. Before today, the team activated safety Jimmie Ward on October 8 and linebacker Curtis Robinson on October 15. San Francisco also hopes to activate defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw (knee) in the coming weeks.

On Friday, the 49ers placed cornerback Jason Verrett on injured reserve. The team had activated him from the physically unable to perform list on October 26. He suffered a season-ending Achilles injury on Wednesday.

Verrett heading to injured reserve left the 49ers with four open roster spots, allowing them to activate the four players from injured reserve without making corresponding roster moves.