Brandon Aiyuk’s injury provides an opportunity for Ricky Pearsall to shine for the 49ers

AP Pro Football Writer

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The plan to ease rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall back into form as he worked his way back from being shot in the chest didn’t last long for the San Francisco 49ers.

With Brandon Aiyuk out for the season after tearing ligaments in his right knee on Sunday, Pearsall quickly goes from a luxury depth option on San Francisco’s offense to one of the key pieces.

“There are definitely a lot of opportunities for us,” Pearsall said Wednesday about him and fellow rookie receiver Jacob Cowing. “Obviously, it sucks seeing a guy like B.A. go down — one of our leaders on the team, big playmakers and one of my close buddies who I’ve known for a really long time. It hurt my heart to see him go down. … Now we have a lot of rookies who need to step up like myself.”

The Niners are short-handed when it comes to playmakers on offense with Aiyuk out for the season and All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey being sidelined by Achilles tendinitis that has sidelined him since August.

The status of two of the team’s other top receivers is also in question this week with Deebo Samuel missing practice Wednesday, a day after being released from the hospital after spending two nights there with pneumonia, and Jauan Jennings out with a hip injury that could force him to miss a second straight game.

Pearsall had three catches for 21 yards in his debut, while playing 48 snaps on offense in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. There were also some mix-ups, including a bad route he ran on his first target of the game that went for an incompletion late in the first half.

“It was just a communication error,” Pearsall said. “Obviously, we haven’t had many reps at that together, me being out. I was just a few yards too deep. I can cut that a little shorter, and the ball would’ve been right on my chest.”

After getting most of his practice time at the “X” receiver spot that lines up on the line of scrimmage, Pearsall got opportunities to play out of the slot and off the line on Sunday because of all the injuries.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said he was pleased with how Pearsall performed in that role and hopes to build on it this week when San Francisco plays Dallas.

“I think he’s wired to run every route as a receiver,” Shanahan said. “Ricky is a plug-and-play with all routes. It’s not like he has a small route tree and only can do certain things, so he can run the whole tree.”

That was one of the traits that led the Niners to draft Pearsall in the first round in April with the 31st pick. He missed the majority of training camp with injuries to his hamstring and shoulder, but was on track to be ready for the opener before he was shot in the chest in San Francisco’s Union Square area during a robbery attempt on Aug. 31.

He was hospitalized overnight but avoided damage to any organs and nerves and was back working out at the team facility the following week. He returned to practice for the first time last week before making a debut that he hopes to build on in the coming weeks.

“I saw a lot of room for improvement.” he said. “Obviously being out of training camp and this period of time for the season, there’s a lot of opportunity for me to get better. I just have to go back and do that and grind and do what I normally do and work hard.”

NOTES: The Niners promoted DT Evan Anderson from the practice squad to fill Aiyuk’s spot on the roster after he went on IR. … TE George Kittle (foot), DL Kevin Givens (groin), S George Odum (knee) and LT Trent Williams (veteran day) all missed practice. … DL Nick Bosa (elbow), RB Jordan Mason (shoulder) and WR Chris Conley (ankle) were limited. … San Francisco signed WR Malik Turner and OL Dieter Eiselen to the practice squad.

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