The San Francisco 49ers will be without wide receiver Ricky Pearsall for the 2026 NFL season. On Aug. 1, the Niners announced that Pearsall’s season was over before it even started, placing him on season-ending injured reserve as he continues to deal with a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee.
Nonetheless, Pearsall’s injury is one he’s been dealing with since last season, which has caused him to miss multiple games. He initially suffered the injury in Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, then missed six games. He later aggravated the same knee in Week 15 against the Tennessee Titans.
Pearsall missed two of the final three games of the regular season and the wild-card round. The 49ers wideout would return and be a nonfactor in a divisional round loss to Seattle.
Because of this lingering injury, former 49ers safety Donte Whitner didn’t hold back his thoughts on how San Francisco handled Pearsall’s situation.
“The 49ers failed Ricky Pearsall by not requiring PCL surgery at the end of the season,” Whitner said in an Aug. 10 video from “The Grit Code Podcast.” “The timeline raised a serious question. He injured the PCL in September. He aggravated the same knee in December. The swelling returned in training camp. Now he’s having season-ending surgery. A Grade 2 PCL injury 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. Did returning early guarantee that it became a Grade 3? No, but it may have left the knee unstable and more vulnerable to the next hard plant or collision.“
49ers’ Ricky Pearsall Should’ve Sought Second Opinion
Moreover, Whitner believes that Pearsall should’ve done what players normally do in these situations: Seek a second opinion from an independent doctor.
“There are two possibilities: Either the Grade 2 was rushed and became worse, or the original injury was more severe than they first diagnosed, Whitner added. “Without the original imaging and stress testing, nobody outside the building can honestly know.
“That is why players are taught to get an independent examination. The team has a medical process. The players need a second opinion. Focus only on his body and his career. Earlier surgery would not have guaranteed a 2026 return, but it may have preserved part of the season.
“They may have cleared the pain before they cleared the ligament. Trying to save a few weeks of the season cost Ricky Pearsall an entire year. Somebody failed the kid here, and 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 No. 1 receiver again after this surgery.”
Deebo Samuel Gets Blunt on Ricky Pearsall Injury
To compensate for the loss of Pearsall, the 49ers signed veteran wideout Deebo Samuel for a second stint. On July 30, the 49ers decided to welcome Samuel, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported, citing sources, that the 49ers and the 30-year-old reached an agreement on a one-year deal that could be worth up to $7 million.
With Pearsall now needing to focus on getting healthy for the 2027 NFL season, Samuel issued a message to his teammate amid this challenging moment.
“The night whenever he got the news, he was a little frustrated, and I was like, ‘Bro, just keep your head up, man. Your time’s coming,‘” Samuel told reporters on Aug. 1. “It’s just that he kind of had bad luck right now. There’s really nothing he can do about it. But overall, he’s shown what he’s capable of when he’s healthy, and I’m wishing him well with surgery and a quick recovery, for sure.”
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