San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is listed as questionable for Saturday night's NFC playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks. Still, the receiver remains optimistic about his chances of returning after missing the last two contests.
"Yeah, I'm pretty confident," Pearsall said on Thursday. "I've been in every practice this week. Yeah, you guys saw me practicing last week, but if you really saw me practicing, I couldn't really lift up my leg very well. I was trying to get back.
"But this week gave me a little bit more optimism that I'd be playing this week. Yeah, I'm getting more confident."
Pearsall aggravated a previous PCL injury in Week 17 against the Chicago Bears. While head coach Kyle Shanahan acknowledged the injury is still an issue, he said the 49ers would not place Pearsall on a strict snap count if he's cleared to play against Seattle.
"He's still battling it, so that's why he's still questionable," Shanahan said. "But we would never put a guy on an exact snap count, especially in a playoff game."
Although confident he can suit up, Pearsall admitted he may be limited in certain aspects of his game—particularly with explosive movements. He was asked about the most challenging part of the lingering injury.
"I was going to say the toughest part is just being in and out," Pearsall said. "That's probably the toughest part, is it just lingering around. It's one of those injuries that it's not going to heal up until I'm fully rested and done, and I can't do that right now, obviously.
"So, just getting it back to being manageable. But yeah, just any explosive movements, honestly."
The lingering injury has created added challenges for Pearsall, who has missed eight games this season, including the Wild Card win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
"When you're just feeling pain over and over again, and then you have an injury that's lingering, yeah, you've got to kind of work through that confidence thing and get it back," Pearsall said. "But that just comes down to how good can you get it to be feeling in the training room, and then, when you step on the football field, excuse my language, but just say 'F--k it,' and go.
"So, that's just been my mindset every time I step on the field. And then, doing everything I can in the training room."
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