Kyle Shanahan Provides Positive Update on 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall

It’s been months since Ricky Pearsall has practiced with the San Francisco 49ers, yet according to coach Kyle Shanahan, that could change this weekend.

Shanahan noted the second-year Niners wide receiver is likely to make his season debut on the practice field Sunday after missing mandatory minicamp and OTAs with a hamstring injury.

Of course, Pearsall missed the first six games of his rookie season while recovering from a gun-shot wound yet still posted 31 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns.

What Did Kyle Shanahan Say About Ricky Pearsall’s Hamstring Injury?

Pearsall was reportedly doing conditioning work on the side during practice, and Shanahan said that was the only thing holding him back from participating in practice.

“Ricky is someone that, if this was probably a few years ago, we would’ve practiced him today (Wednesday),” Shanahan said, according 49ers Web Zone. “When you hit your GPS speed, your max speed that you hit before you were hurt, when you can run all those routes, that’s usually your protocol to go back.

“He hit all that stuff over the weekend, which we felt good about. But we wanted to make sure his conditioning was right. So we’re just doing that for three days, and if you can continue to hit all that stuff, and his conditioning’s good, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t out there Sunday.”

Pearsall was placed on the physically unable to perform list before training camp while he ramps up off of his hamstring injury. Players can come off the PUP list as soon as they are ready to participate in practices.

What Did Kyle Shanahan Say About Jake Cowing?

Hamstrings are the injury du jour for 49ers wide receiver, since 2024 fourth-round draft pick Jake Cowing reportedly sustained a concerning hamstring injury Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, I think he pulled his hamstring on routes on air today before we started,” Shanahan said of Cowing. “Hopefully, he can stay healthy and keep going to where he did in OTAs, but probably had a little setback today.”

While each of the Niners’ top-two receivers, Pearsall and superstar Brandon Aiyuk, missed much of the off-season workouts due to injury, Cowing was wowing on the practice field during OTAs and minicamp, which made his injury that much more disappointing to Shanahan.

“I thought Jake had one of the best OTAs out of anybody on our team in terms of most-improved, the most prepared for it,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully, that’s better news than what we’re guessing out there, and he can get back, and get back to what he was doing in OTAs.”

With Aiyuk, Pearsall and Cowing all out, the 49ers signed Equanimeous St. Brown to add receiver depth Tuesday. Jauan Jennings reportedly led the Niners receiving corps, and even the No. 2 Demarcus Robinson, who signed this off-season, could be in line for a three-game suspension after pleading no contest to a DUI.

“You can get by with 10 [available receivers],” Shanahan said according to the San Francisco Standard, “until one guy has a sore hamstring the next day, and then you have only nine.”