49ers Place Wide Receiver on Season-Ending Injured Reserve

The San Francisco 49ers have placed wide receiver Ricky Pearsall Jr. on season-ending injured reserve. This comes just days after Pearsall Jr. was sidelined with swelling in his knee. The swelling stems from an injury to his Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), which occurred in a game last season against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Per Mick Shlain of NBC Sports. “49ers GM John Lynch told reporters Pearsall would have surgery on his PCL. A year after knee injuries limited him to nine games, Pearsall will miss the entire 2026 season.” 

Related: 49ers Add Familiar Face to Wider Receiver Room

Earlier this week, it was reported that the 49ers had some “concern” about Pearsall’s knee swelling up, and they were “exploring all options”. It now seems the team has decided the best course of action is surgery, which will cause the third-year player to miss the entirety of 2026. 

Pearsall has dealt with injuries throughout his short career after being selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft with pick 31. He was shot in the chest just days before the start of his rookie season during an attempted robbery, which caused him to miss the first six games of his career. He would go on to have a solid rookie season, all things considered, as he posted 31 receptions for 400 yards and 3 touchdowns in 11 games. 

His sophomore season was once again derailed by injuries, as he only appeared in 9 contests. He was able to set career highs in receptions with 36 and receiving yards with 528, but he failed to find the endzone. 

San Francisco signed receiver Deebo Samuel on Thursday to a one-year, $7 million deal. With Christian Kirk dealing with his own injury, the team reacquired Samuel to bolster a receiving corps headlined by Mike Evans, who is entering his 13th NFL season.

source https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/49ers-place-wide-receiver-on-season-ending-injured-reserve