The San Francisco 49ers are excited about rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, though his availability remains uncertain. Pearsall began training camp on the non-football injury (NFI) list due to a hamstring issue. When he finally took the practice field, he made a strong impression, but his time was cut short after re-aggravating a shoulder injury that had bothered him during organized team activities (OTAs).
Apparently, it's been a known issue well before OTAs.
The 49ers had hoped to have Pearsall back in practice this week, but that didn't happen, and the first-year receiver won't be playing in any preseason games. Now, the team aims to have him return to practice next week, just in time to prepare for Week 1 of the regular season. Pearsall's contributions might be crucial, especially if the 49ers can't reach a new contract agreement with Brandon Aiyuk.
According to Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle, the 49ers' decision-makers were aware of Pearsall's shoulder issue even before selecting him with the No. 31 overall pick in April.
With Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings possibly being the Week 1 starting wideouts, Pearsall could be called upon to play a significant role—if he's healthy. Samuel, by the way, has been the standout offensive player during training camp.
"And then the other component of that is Pearsall, who looked amazing the one-and-a-half practices he was actually healthy since they drafted him," Silver said this week on Bay Area radio station KNBR. "But [he] has a shoulder thing that is now recurring, and I think worrying over the long haul, something they knew about before they drafted him and were hoping wouldn't be a thing."
In a separate interview with KNBR, general manager John Lynch expressed confidence that Pearsall will be an early contributor this season.
"It's not ideal, to say the least, that he's been off to the side," Lynch said. "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."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Silver below.