Jerry McDonald has been with the Bay Area News Group for more than 30 years, with a heavy concentration of NFL football since the Raiders returned to Oakland in 1995. His all-time favorite athlete is a right-handed pitcher at Division III Linfield College in Oregon.
SANTA CLARA — Like Christian McCaffery and Brock Purdy before him, Ricky Pearsall Jr. will play his first game with the 49ers Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Throwing Pearsall into the mix this fast is a leap of faith, although less of a leap than what he’s already survived.“Ricky’s been studying, he’s been getting a ton of stuff,” Shanahan said Friday. “I know he’ll get better as the year goes so we understand that with our expectations. Missing all the practice, missing some time, makes it harder schematically and getting out of the huddle. But he’s working his butt off to catch up. He’s gotten better each day. I know he’ll get better each week.
Purdy drove the 49ers deep into Chiefs territory and was 4 of 9 for 66 yards before throwing a pass into the end zone intended for Jauan Jennings that was intercepted by Juan Thornhill. With Pearsall getting short of breath out of excitement after Monday’s low-key walkthrough practice, his emotions with family and friends present for his debut will be in the stratosphere.
Jennings’ production has come mostly as a third receiver, a role Pearsall could play against the Chiefs. Jennings has averaged 40 snaps per game, and it remains to be seen whether Shanahan will play his rookie that much.When the 49ers and Chiefs met in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, Jennings was a potential MVP until Patrick Mahomes worked his magic, throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to McCaffery and catching a 10-yard touchdown pass from Purdy.
Pearsall has been fielding punt returns in practice and Shanahan didn’t rule out using him in that specialty. Given that he had just 15 punt returns for 153 yards in five years at Arizona State and Florida, that seems unlikely.
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49ers’ Ricky Pearsall will make his debut Sunday against ChiefsJerry McDonald has been with the Bay Area News Group for more than 30 years, with a heavy concentration of NFL football since the Raiders returned to Oakland in 1995. His all-time favorite athlete is a right-handed pitcher at Division III Linfield College in Oregon.
Read more »