San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall withdrew from the team’s training camp this week after his previously injured knee began to swell. Pearsall has been limited or inactive in all three of his professional training camps, missing most of his 2024 rookie camp with a shoulder injury before surviving a gunshot wound, and battling a hamstring issue early in 2025.
49ers Insider Gives Concerning Ricky Pearsall Injury News
During Thursday’s segment of “The Sports Leader,” 49ers insider Matt Maiocco gave a concerning update on Pearsall’s injury status.
“This doesn’t look good either. The posterior cruciate ligament is an injury that often times heals on its own and that was the expectation last year,” Maiocco said. “Well, the idea was, or the thought would be, that it would heal on its own through the offseason, and it doesn’t appear as if that has happened… So, you know, if surgery is required, he’s going to miss the season. He’s going to miss the entire season.
“If they had decided to have the surgery, say in February or March or whenever, you’re not giving it the full time to recover on its own, but also you’re probably going to miss the season anyway. So I think that they made a calculated attempt to hope, I guess, that thing would heal on its own, like it often does. And once it didn’t, or it hasn’t, now it’s time for the 49ers and Ricky Pearsall to decide what they want to do.”
“This doesn’t look good… I think it’s reasonable, rational, logical, for the 49ers to NOT expect Ricky Pearsall to make any contribution in 2026.”@MaioccoNBCS says the Niners could be preparing for Ricky Pearsall to miss the entirety of the 2026 season.
(via @MarkusBoucher &… pic.twitter.com/35Q2IfXcVm
— KNBR (@KNBR) July 30, 2026
The wide receiver sustained the posterior cruciate ligament injury in the 49ers’ Week 4 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. He missed six games as a result, then returned for four games before missing the Week 16 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
He came back to play Week 17 against Chicago before missing the final game of the regular season. Pearsall also missed the Wild Card round game against the Philadelphia Eagles and was a non-factor against Seattle in the Divisional Round.
BE THE GM OF YOUR FAVORITE TEAM: PFN’s FREE NFL Mock Draft Simulator
With Pearsall’s expected absence, Maiocco further praised the 49ers for selecting wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling with the No. 33 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
“So, at this point, I think it’s reasonable, rational, logical for the 49ers to not expect Ricky Pearsall to make any contribution in 2026,” Maiocco added. “And so, it really kind of amplifies how important it was for the team to select De’Zhaun Stribling where they did, with the 33rd overall pick. A pick, at the time, I think a lot of people thought was kind of a luxury pick. But now, it’s looking more and more like a necessity.”
Since being selected No. 31 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, Pearsall has had a stop-start NFL career. He had the best game of his career in 2024, tallying 141 receiving yards and a touchdown on 8 receptions against the Detroit Lions. He finished his rookie season with 400 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 31 receptions.
During an injury-hit 2025 season, Pearsall managed 528 receiving yards on 36 catches for the 49ers in nine games, earning a PFN Wide Receiver Impact score of 71.6.
