Injuries have hampered the 49ers for years, and that once again appears to be the case in 2026. On Saturday, the 49ers placed receiver and former first-round pick Ricky Pearsall on season-ending injured reserve. General manager John Lynch said that Pearsall will undergo season-ending surgery to address his nagging PCL injury that has bothered him since the 2025 season.
Lynch said that Pearsall will undergo surgery in the next couple of weeks. The timeline for Pearsall's recovery is six to 12 months.
Pearsall initially sustained the injury during the 49ers' loss to the Jaguars in Week 4 of the 2025 season. The injury led to Pearsall missing all or parts of 10 games.
Pearsall did not undergo surgery this offseason and, by all accounts, did not experience any major setbacks prior to the start of training camp, when he began to experience swelling in the knee.
"We reevaluated after [the season], and the consensus was that that [surgery] wasn't the step to take," Lynch said earlier this week, via ESPN. "He did well throughout the offseason, ran into some other road bumps. At that point between all the docs that we consulted ... the decision was made. As [team physician] Tim [McAdams] said, it's declared itself. And the course of action that everyone felt was appropriate was having surgery."
The 31st overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Pearsall's career so far has been marred by obstacles. Just before the start of his rookie season, Pearsall sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, which led to him being placed on the reserve/NFI list until Oct. 19. Pearsall caught 31 of 46 targets for 400 yards and three touchdowns that season.
Last year's knee injury limited Pearsall to nine games. He caught 36 of 53 targets for 528 yards. He caught one pass during San Francisco's season-ending loss to the Eagles in the NFC wild card round.
As noted above, the 49ers have dealt with a considerable amount of injuries over the years. Last season alone, the team dealt with significant injuries to several key players that included tight end George Kittle, linebacker Fred Warner, pass rusher Nick Bosa and quarterback Brock Purdy. The 49ers, desperate to find a solution to their injury issue, recently looked into whether or not excessive exposure to electromagnetic force (EMF) is contributing to the team's alarming injury rate.
Pearsall's injury coincides with the 49ers' officially re-signing former All-Pro wideout Deebo Samuel, who is back in San Francisco after spending the 2025 season with the Commanders. Samuel played a key role on the 49ers' NFC championship-winning squads in 2019 and 2023.
"Deebo has been, at times, one of the better players in football," Lynch said. "About a month ago we started having talks in earnest and came to fruition here a couple days ago, and we're thrilled to have him back."
