San Francisco, CA -- (Sports Network) - San Francisco 49ers Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore suffered a slight fracture in his right hand on Monday.

The injury occurred in a ball handling drill and Gore will be put in a cast this week. According to 49ers head coach Mike Nolan, Gore will be re-examined next Monday before returning to practice.

Nolan, however, left open the possibility of Gore missing up to four weeks.

"It could be something like that," said Nolan. "But, he'll be ready at the latter part of pre-season, I've been told."

Gore set a franchise record last season with an NFC-best 1,695 rushing yards, topping Garrison Hearst's 1998 mark of 1,570. He added 485 yards receiving for a total of 2,180 yards from scrimmage to eclipse Hearst's previous club record of 2,105 total yards.

The 49ers selected Gore in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft after a collegiate career at Miami-Florida that included torn ACL injuries to each knee. He led the Niners in rushing during his rookie campaign with 608 yards while playing 14 games.