49ers C Pat Elflein Injures Calf and Leaves Practice

Kyle Shanahan was chatting with general manager John Lynch on the field when a trainer walked over presumably to deliver the news. It's unclear when Elflein will return.

NFL Arizona Cardinals center Pat Elflein / Joel Angel Juarez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

SANTA CLARA -- Grand opening, grand closing.

The 49ers announced on Friday morning that they signed veteran center Pat Elflein. A few hours later, Elflein limped off the practice field with an injury.

"We think he pulled his calf," head coach Kyle Shanahan said after practice. "He did it in individual (drills). I didn't get to see it or anything, but I was told that. So we think it was a calf."

Shanahan was chatting with general manager John Lynch on the field when a trainer walked over presumably to deliver the news. It's unclear when Elflein will return.

Elflein, 30, went to Ohio State and was a third-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2017. He has played in 65 games during his career and started 64 of them, which shows that he's a starting-caliber center when healthy.

But since 2020, Elflein has played in just 22 games. And last year, he spent the entire season on the Arizona Cardinals' Injured Reserve List with an undisclosed injury. So he isn't healthy often.

The 49ers signed Elflein probably because they want a backup center behind starter Jake Brendel. Last season, the backup center was Jon Feliciano, but now he's the starting right guard, so the 49ers need someone else who can snap the ball if Brendel goes down. During OTAs and minicamp, the 49ers played Ben Bartch at center, but have since moved him to guard. And the first week of training camp, the 49ers played Nick Zakelj at center, but he's not good.

So the backup center job is Elflein's to lose if he can just get healthy.