The San Francisco 49ers will play the 2026 NFL season without Ricky Pearsall, as he will undergo a season-ending surgery on the PCL injury he first suffered in Week 4 last year.
The 49ers’ handling of Pearsall’s injury drew criticism from Grant Cohn, who argued that San Francisco’s original decision not to let the receiver have surgery straightaway carries significant implications.
Grant Cohn Rips 49ers’ Medical Staff Over Ricky Pearsall’s Injury
Pearsall suffered the injury in a Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in September, 2025. He didn’t return until Week 11, and in total, played just nine games last season.
Pearsall, on the advice of the 49ers, didn’t have the surgery in the offseason, but his knee swelled up as soon as the training camp started, and now he’s sidelined for the rest of the campaign.
Cohn, who has often been critical of how the 49ers operate, placed the blame for Pearsall’s injury directly on the team’s medical staff.
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“Bad news for Ricky Pearsall. He’s done for the year, having season-ending knee surgery on his PCL,” Cohn said. “Could be out 12 months. John Lynch says he expects it to be 9. I feel bad for Ricky Pearsall, and at the same time, if I were him, I would be heated. I would be so upset because all he did was follow the 49ers’ protocol for rehab. I mean, they thought it would get better without surgery.”
“They were wrong, and now they’re, you know, explaining that usually, most of the time, it does get better without surgery. Yeah, well, they were wrong, and they cost him a year of his career,” Cohn added. “He could’ve had surgery last year. This happened in Week 4? He coulda had surgery last year, be back by now. Instead, he’s gonna have to miss all of 2026, and when he returns, what, he’ll be, like, 27 years old?”
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Pearsall finished last season with 36 receptions for 528 yards and no touchdowns. He didn’t even play in the 49ers’ Wild Card round win over the Philadelphia Eagles, but returned in the Divisional Round against the Seattle Seahawks, where he finished the game with zero receptions on two targets.
According to PFN’s WR Impact Metric, Pearsall posted an impact score of 71.6 last season, ranking 55th in the league.
Cohn continued his criticism of the 49ers and added, “Man, they cost him a year of his prime because, I’m not even gonna say the substation, man, they have a substandard trainer, training department, and they tried to jazz it up with some hydrotherapy. That didn’t help Ricky.”
Cohn took another dig at the 49ers, saying, “Man, but at least they got 30-year-old Deebo Samuel, man, who’ll make all the difference.
Instant reaction to the 49ers shutting down Ricky Pearsall for the year. pic.twitter.com/LCeo323DnO
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) August 1, 2026
Cohn’s tone was aggressive, but his frustration is what every 49ers fan in the world feels like. Nick Bosa is returning from a torn ACL, Fred Warner from a dislocated and fractured ankle, and George Kittle opened camp on the PUP list after Achilles surgery.
New signing Christian Kirk has already missed practice time with a calf issue in the first days of camp, and today, De’Zhaun Stribling didn’t practice due to hamstring tightness. Another rookie, Mikail Kamara, was carted off, and Keion White, as well as Romello Height, also didn’t practice.
More importantly, Christian McCaffrey turned 30 in June and is coming off a league-high 413 regular-season touches in 2025, a workload that invites its own concern about a potential injury.
Substation conspiracy theories will always create noise, but the main issue for the 49ers is maybe their medical staff. Unless a complete overhaul is done on a higher level, the players on the team will continue to get hurt before and during the season.
