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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Ricky Pearsall's 2026 season is looking like it might be over before it even starts. The San Francisco 49ers wide receiver has been sidelined by a knee injury with no timeline for his return, and according to NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco, the team may now need to prepare for him to miss the entire year.
"This doesn't look good," Maiocco said. "The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is an injury that oftentimes heals on its own, and that was the expectation last year. He injured that thing, came back, kind of re-aggravated it, and he just had a difficult time shaking that. The idea was that it would heal on its own through the offseason, and it doesn't appear as if that has happened.
"If surgery is required, he's going to miss the season," Maiocco added. "Now it's time for the 49ers and Ricky Pearsall to decide what they want to do because if they wait and wait and wait and try to play through it, then, you know, maybe the surgery is required and maybe that cuts into his 2027 season.
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"At this point, I think it's reasonable, rational, logical for the 49ers to not expect Ricky Pearsall to make any contribution in 2026."
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Pearsall is dealing with swelling in his knee related to the PCL injury he suffered during the 2025 season, and that same injury caused him to miss eight games last year. He appeared in nine games and finished with 528 yards on 36 receptions, averaging 14.7 yards per catch.
The frustrating part is this isn't new for Pearsall. He and the 49ers actually opted against surgery after the 2025 season, instead hoping the injury would heal on its own over time. But after a few days of running routes at training camp, the swelling returned, suggesting the injury hadn't healed the way everyone had hoped.
Now, with the season just over a month away, time is running out to make a decision.
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Pearsall is entering his third NFL season, meaning that 2027 will be the final year of his rookie contract, assuming the franchise doesn't pick up his fifth-year option. If he sits out the entire 2026 season, he'll enter a contract year under more pressure than anybody on the 49ers roster.
San Francisco selected Pearsall 31st overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he's appeared in just 20 of 34 possible games since becoming a pro.
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