The San Francisco 49ers eagerly await the return of their first-round draft pick, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. The rookie has missed much of training camp after re-aggravating a shoulder injury during practice. While he won't play in the preseason, the team is hopeful he will be ready for Week 1 against the New York Jets.
Despite the setbacks, the 49ers remain optimistic about Pearsall's ability to contribute in his first season.
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"We're patient and really excited about Ricky and his development," Lynch said Thursday morning on Bay Area radio station KNBR. "A rookie, at any position, coming in, is a tough leap. And then, at wide receiver, in this offense, it's a lot, but Rickey can handle a lot.
"It's not ideal, to say the least, that he's been off to the side. The good news is Rickey's been able to run and do all these things. But with the type of injury he had, the time up front was critical to allowing for the best result, and so we've been giving him that time.
"He's been deep in the playbook, he's been in all the meetings, he's been doing his rehab vigorously. Ricky's a worker and he's a very talented football player. We've been doing the best we can, given the circumstances. Ricky's been excellent in doing his part, and I think it's going to be soon where we can get him back out there on the field and really try to accelerate the process.
"He's going to be a big part of what we do, and we're as high on him as we were when we drafted him, or higher. And when he's been out there, it's been really good. Unfortunately, he's ran into a couple of injuries, and those things happen, and you have to have the patience."
The 49ers are cautious with their injured players, understanding that their Super Bowl aspirations require careful consideration of each situation to ensure long-term success.
"It'd be foolish just to rush him, saying, 'Hey, we have to have him ready. He's a rookie,'" Lynch continued. "Well, that's not real smart if he's not going to be healthy, and so I appreciate Kyle and his staff allowing us the patience for the health and performance staff to give the markers as to when he's ready to get back out there, and I know he's getting close to being back out there on the field."
Pearsall isn't the only receiver the 49ers drafted. The team also used a fourth-round pick on Jacob Cowing, who has had his own injury setbacks but has since returned to the field and impressed.
"Cowling's explosive," Lynch shared. "We knew that coming out of Arizona. He's a really good football player. I think he can add a dimension to this team. He's got a long way to go. Again, some health [setbacks] with some hamstring issues early in camp, but now he's stacking days, and you're starting to see the talent."
Cowing led the team with 51 receiving yards this past weekend against the New Orleans Saints and shined as a punt returner. Lynch and the 49ers were impressed by the rookie's debut.
"I thought we saw it really illustrated well in the game versus the Saints, catching punts and doing really well fielding the punts," Lynch said. "I know, talking to Brian Schneider, our special teams coach, he was loving the fact that we were playing the Saints, who had an Aussie right foot punter, so you're going to get every type of spin. You've got a left-foot punter, and then you had swirling wind, and Jacob passed that test with flying colors. That's a way he can contribute right away.
"But we saw him running routes on the short, intermediate. And then, we saw the deep ball that he caught. We saw jet sweeps. We saw him in there blocking. We require that of our receivers, and he's not the biggest guy, but he's got a lot of fight to him. And so, it was a really good debut, a preseason game for Jacob, and he's got a long way to go, but man, I think everyone saw how explosive he can be, and he can help us right away."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.