The San Francisco 49ers placed Ricky Pearsall on season-ending injured reserve after his posterior cruciate ligament injury failed to fully heal. General Manager John Lynch said Pearsall will undergo surgery, and his recovery is expected to take six to 12 months.
Donte Whitner Believes 49ers Could Have Handled Ricky Pearsall’s Injury Better
The latest injury setback has former 49ers safety Donte Whitner questioning whether the team handled the wide receiver’s knee problem correctly. Whitner believes the team should have taken a different approach with Pearsall at the end of last season.
“The 49ers failed Ricky Pearsall by not requiring PCL surgery at the end of the season. The timeline raises serious questions,” Whitner said on “The Grit Code Podcast.”
“A grade two PCL is not a bruise. It is a partially torn ligament with looseness in the knee. So even if the pain improves, that does not mean the ligament is ready for cutting, stopping, and NFL contact,” Whitner added.
Whitner suggested the team may have focused on getting Pearsall out of pain rather than ensuring the ligament itself was ready. He also urged the wide receiver to seek an independent medical evaluation.
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“Somebody failed the kid here,” Whitner said. “This could possibly end up as one of those stories where you saw glimpses of his talent, and he’ll probably never get the opportunity to be a number one receiver again after this surgery.”
“The 49ers failed Ricky Pearsall by not requiring PCL surgery at the end of last season.”
— Donte Whitner
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— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) August 10, 2026
Pearsall’s NFL career has been filled with setbacks so far. The 31st overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft missed the start of his rookie season after being shot during an attempted robbery. He recorded 31 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games that year.
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Pearsall appeared in nine games during the 2025 season and recorded 36 catches for 528 yards. The 49ers wideout had an impact score of 71.6 on PFN’s NFL WR Impact Metric, ranking 55th in the league.
The 49ers now have to move forward without him for the 2026 campaign. Kyle Shanahan also admitted that losing Pearsall is a big deal and said, “Losing Ricky was a real big deal. We’ve had a number of injuries in camp, but that’s really the only one that’s actually been not just a camp injury.”
The 49ers coach said the team will need players such as De’Zhaun Stribling and Mike Evans to step up. Pearsall’s absence could also force San Francisco to find different ways to attack man coverage.
The team will need more from Evans, who himself is dealing with a quad injury, and Stribling could see an increased role if he returns to full health. As for Pearsall, he faces a long road to recovery.
