Even with the regular season right around the corner, the San Francisco 49ers receiver’s room remains uncertain. San Francisco Chronicle 49ers columnist Mike Silver joined Tom Tolbert and Adam Copeland on KNBR earlier this week to discuss the situation. While Silver’s comments on top wideout Brandon Aiyuk’s hold-in garnered most of the headlines, he also revealed a little tidbit about rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall-who is currently out with a shoulder injury.
“The other component of that is Pearsall, who looked amazing the like 1.5 practices he was actually healthy since they drafted him,” Silver said. “But has a shoulder thing that is now recurring and worrying over the long haul, something they knew about before they drafted him and were hoping wouldn’t be a thing.”
Pearsall started training camp on the Non-Football Injury list with a shoulder injury. While he was briefly able to return to practice before a minor hamstring injury, he has reaggravated his shoulder and is once again sidelined from the practice field (he has already been ruled out for the 49ers’ final preseason game).
A pair of early-career shoulder injuries raises concern about any prospect, but the fact that Silver noted that the 49ers “knew about” his shoulder issue before the draft raises more questions. Silver did not clarify those comments during the rest of his conversation, but there is surely room for further details. Did ‘the 49ers medical staff flag Pearsall’s shoulder as a potential long-term issue? Or did he simply already have the injury that would land him on the NFI list?
Either way, the fact that the Niners used a first-round pick on Pearsall despite some degree of health concern speaks to their confidence in his profile as a prospect, but also this front office’s historic willingness to gamble on players with some longer injury histories. Of course, that decision-making progress has had mixed success throughout head coach Kyle Shanahan’s tenure and likely plays a role in the 49ers consistently having one of the most injury-depleted rosters in the league by the end of the season.
Nevertheless, the 49ers have been fairly quiet about Pearsall’s specific injury. They have not provided any details on his timetable or specific recovery timeline, simply listing him as out with a shoulder injury at this point in time. Given the fact that at least some shoulder issue has now been on the 49ers’ radar for several months, vagueness undeniably creates added reason for concern.
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