Frank Gore Suffers High Ankle Sprain

Last week, Frank Gore ran the ball 16 times for a career-high 207 yards. Sunday, against the Minnesota Vikings, Gore tied a career-low with just four yards rushing. Of course, this came on his only carry, before he was forced to leave with an ankle injury.

The NFL Network has reported that Gore suffered a high ankle sprain and that he could possibly miss a few games. Needless to say, this is bad news for the 49ers and Gore's fantasy owners alike. The fifth-year running back from Miami is San Fran's workhorse, and he's also the anchor of his fantasy football teams.

In his place, Glen Coffee stepped in and handled the workload for the visiting Niners. The rookie carried the ball 25 times, but only gained 54 yards. Now, we need to take more away from this game than Coffee only averaging a slight bit more than two yards per carry. The 49ers were facing the Vikings, who have the most stout defensive tackle duo in the NFL. It says a lot about the Niners' confidence in their youngster that he ran the ball the same amount of times Shaun Hill attempted a pass.

Moving forward, Gore owners should have already owned Coffee as a handcuff in larger leagues. Needless to say, he should be owned in all leagues once waivers clear this coming week, considering the news that Gore will miss some time.

Peering at the upcoming schedule, Coffee looks to have a good chance at his first successful regular-season game -- remember, he tore it up in the preseason -- when the Niners face the Rams at home next Sunday. The following week, the Niners host the Falcons, who allowed Fred Taylor to run for 105 yards and a touchdown in Week 3.

This situation is a perfect illustration of the handcuff in fantasy football. Coffee is the perfect fill-in for owners who lost Gore on Sunday.