SANTA CLARA, Calif. — At one point during the second half of Sunday’s game, George Kittle looked around the huddle and was jarred by what he saw.
Instead of Deebo Samuel Sr. and Jauan Jennings, he found Jacob Cowing and Chris Conley. Instead of Brandon Aiyuk, he saw Ricky Pearsall, who was making his NFL debut. And in place of Christian McCaffrey was Jordan Mason.
“It was a lot different than Deebo, Jauan, Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey,” Kittle said.
Those notable absences helped explain why the San Francisco 49ers looked so out of sync in their 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, especially on offense. They gained a season-low 212 yards through the air and Brock Purdy threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. His 36.7 passer rating was the worst of his career, surpassing the 42.6 rating he got in a four-interception loss to the Baltimore Ravens last season.
The question now becomes whether one of Sunday’s stand-ins can step up and help fill in for Aiyuk, by far the most badly injured of the missing 49ers. The team suspects he tore his right ACL when his knee hyperextended as he caught a pass at the Kansas City 14-yard line in the second quarter. Kyle Shanahan said the wideout, who led the 49ers in receiving yards the last two seasons, would have an MRI Monday to confirm the diagnosis.
“That’s what we fear, that’s what it looks like,” he said. “But we’ve been wrong before. So, we’re praying that we are.”
Pearsall was expected to have a minor role in his first action since being shot in the chest on Aug. 31. Instead he ended up playing most of the second half and finishing with three catches for 21 yards. His first — a modest, 6-yard grab in the second quarter — was met with an ovation from the Levi’s Stadium crowd and congratulations from teammates.
Pearsall noted he never missed a game due to injury in college and said sitting out the first six games was foreign to him. After his first catch, however, he said he truly settled down.
“Once I got on the field and I put my helmet on, my cleats on and I was running around with the guys, I was like, ‘This is still football at the end of the day,’” he said. “That’s when it felt natural. And then especially after my first catch. I made sure I secured that. And then after that, everything went away.”
First career reception for @S1ickSzn 🥹
📺 #KCvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/iaaAdXeQyY— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 20, 2024
Pearsall spoke publicly for the first time since the incident.
He said his initial question as he lay bleeding on a San Francisco sidewalk was whether he’d live. Once that was resolved, he spent a restless night at the hospital with another question rattling in his head: Would he ever play again?
He said doctors had to study the path the bullet took — through his right pectoral muscle and out where his shoulder and back meet — and determine whether there was any nerve damage. He said he remembers his doctor coming in the next morning and telling him he would be fine and that his career wouldn’t be over before it even started.
“It was really good to get out there with my guys again,” he said. “When the incident first happened, the first thing I was thinking about was the guys in this locker room, the coaches in the locker room and the entire staff. They did a really good job of rallying around me and making sure I stayed up. It was a huge blessing for me today.”
Welcome back, Ricky ❤️ pic.twitter.com/E4LUyiHdZj
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 21, 2024
With everything Pearsall went through in the last 50 days, his first game in a 49ers uniform naturally was going to be a major moment. And it was. Cameras followed him around the field as he warmed up before the game, and his first two snaps — both of them running plays in which he functioned as a blocker — were well-documented.
But his role grew when it became clear Samuel wasn’t going to play very much. Shanahan said the receiver woke up with a bug Sunday morning that affected his stomach and throat and caused fatigue. Samuel sat out most of the second quarter, then emerged from the locker room at halftime in street clothes.
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“He struggled to breathe, couldn’t catch his breath,” Shanahan said. “And so he kept trying to fight through it, but once he was struggling with the breathing and everything, we had to shut him down.”
Then when Aiyuk was carted off the field as the first half ended, Pearsall became more than a mere feel-good moment. He became much more essential.
Kittle was the most productive pass catcher in the second half. He caught all three of Purdy’s targets for 21 yards. Pearsall, however, was the most targeted. Purdy threw in his direction four times after halftime, including on a missed two-point conversion attempt. Pearsall caught two of the passes for 15 yards.
Afterward, Pearsall said the situation was difficult because he and Aiyuk are so tight. Aiyuk was still at Arizona State when Pearsall enrolled there, and the older receiver mentored the younger one during the 2019 season. Aiyuk was in the midst of a contract squabble with the 49ers when they used the 31st pick on Pearsall in April. Aiyuk didn’t take offense. Instead he texted Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
“Fire pick,” he wrote. “Can’t lie.”
There are also similarities in their style of play in that their greatest asset is their quick, fluid cuts and ability to shake defenders. Pearsall missed nearly all of training camp, but he stood out in the spring.
“Ricky cooked at OTAs,” Kittle said. “He had 150 yards a day, it seemed like. So that’s fun. He runs really good routes, he’s really fast, explosive. I think one area where (he and Aiyuk) have similarities — they each have a dog mindset. Like, ‘Put it on me, put it on my shoulders.’”
“Aiyuk, the way he was playing — it sucks,” Kittle continued. “Because he had a hell of a week of practice. He was just making unreal catches left and right. He was just starting to hit his stride this season after missing training camp.”
Brandon Aiyuk was carted off the field after sustaining a leg injury. pic.twitter.com/QKZjoBOuOG
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 20, 2024
Kittle said the 49ers didn’t need to panic after another frustrating loss and another devastating injury. Samuel isn’t expected to miss much — if any — practice time and the 49ers think Jennings, who was the 49ers’ leading receiver entering Week 7, will return from his hip injury for next week’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. McCaffrey is expected back at some point following the Week 9 bye.
“The nice thing is that we still have Jauan Jennings, me, (Kyle Juszczyk), Deebo,” Kiittle said. “We still have guys all over our roster that can make plays.”
He also noted the 49ers have a pair of rookies in Cowing and Pearsall that at least have the ability to help fill the voids. Cowing and Kittle tied for the longest play of the game at 41 yards with Cowing’s reception coming in the fourth quarter.
“The NFL’s the land of opportunities,” Kittle said. “Injuries happen, stuff happens, s—ty things happen. Who’s gonna step up, who’s gonna rise to the occasion and take advantage of the opportunity? That’s what the NFL is. We have a lot of young players. It’s on our vets to pull them along whether they are ready or not.”
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(Photo: Eakin Howard / Associated Press)
