Rookie wide receiver Dante Pettis has taken advantage of his opportunities over the past couple of weeks. The San Francisco 49ers have been without their two starting receivers in Marquise Goodwin and Pierre Garçon, which has forced more playing time on Pettis.

Pettis had no problem taking advantage of the opportunity. During Weeks 12 and 13, he has more touchdowns than any NFL wide receiver, ranks fifth in yards, fourth in yards after the catch, and is tied for the third-longest reception (the 75-yard touchdown), according to Pro Football Focus.


Over the past two games, Pettis has accumulated nine receptions for 206 yards with three touchdowns. At his current pace, he could end up being the 49ers' leading wideout by the end of the season ... and he had seven games without a catch.

Pettis sustained a knee injury against the Los Angeles Chargers during Week 4. The setback forced him to miss the next three games and then slowly ease back into the lineup. Pettis joined 95.7 The Game on Thursday evening and shared that the rest helped him finally play at the level he always believed he could.

"When I was hurt, really the biggest thing that I could do, that would help me the most, was just to rest my knee," Pettis told Damon Bruce. "It was tough because it wasn't like I pulled my hamstring or something, or you rolled your ankle (where) you can do a bunch of rehab and all that stuff. They were saying rest was just the best thing for it. That's what I was trying to do.

"I do think the time off helped a lot because I wasn't feeling 100 percent. Once I came back, and I was 100 percent, then it was like, 'OK, now I can play the way that I want to play. I feel how I want to.' I just think that helped a lot."

The 49ers have been through three quarterbacks this season. Much is said about the chemistry that must be developed between a quarterback and his receivers. For Pettis, that relationship is a lot simpler, and it doesn't matter if Jimmy Garoppolo or Nick Mullens is throwing him the football.


"I've kind of looked at it as, you can't worry about who's going to throw you the ball, really," Pettis said. "The quarterback has a job, and the receiver has a job. The quarterback has to throw you the ball, and the receiver has to catch the ball. That's pretty much what it boils down to.

"You can't really get caught up in specifics of, 'I'm on my third quarterback.' They're expecting you to run your route a certain way, and you're expecting them to throw the ball a certain way. As long as you trust the guy that's in there, I don't really think it's a problem. I don't really think you have to work on all that chemistry and stuff like that."

You can listen to the entire interview with Pettis below:



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