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The San Francisco 49ers are down to their final two games of the season, looking to finish off the season with pride after getting eliminated from the playoffs this past weekend with their 29-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Standing at 6-9 on the season, the 49ers have struggled to be consistent offensively, as they’ve dealt with a number of key injuries, placing younger players in more crucial roles.
One of those players has been first-round pick Ricky Pearsall, who has essentially been a starter for the 49ers since he returned from his injury. But, after three solid games to begin his rookie campaign, Pearsall has really slowed down over the past six games, totaling just 58 yards overall during the stretch.
That included a three-game stretch where Pearsall was held without a catch, with quarterback Brock Purdy acknowledging that there’ve been struggles with that connection a few weeks ago.
“Obviously I’d love to get Ricky the ball as many times as we can,” Purdy said back on December 6th. “I know that he’s explosive and he does a good job with creating separation in man coverage. So as a quarterback, it’s like, dude, for sure I want to get him the ball and I love the kid, he’s awesome. But for some reason, just with how the game has gone when I’ve been in there and stuff, I just haven’t been able to connect to him within the last three games.”
“So for me, it’s not like I’m freaking out going, ‘alright, Ricky and I, our chemistry’s off’ this or that. That’s just how the game’s gone. Going through progressions, I’ve hit some other guys. I don’t know exactly why Ricky hasn’t been like a certain target in a certain play. It’s just I’m going through my progressions and that’s it. Going into a game, like I said, I want to get everybody the ball as best as I can. J.J. (Jauan Jennings), George [Kittle], Deebo [Samuel Sr.], Ricky, all those guys deserve it and I want to play for them and get them the ball as much, but that’s just how the last three games have gone.”
Since those comments, the connection still hasn’t fully developed, however, as Pearsall has caught six passes for 58 yards over the past three games, while Purdy and his rookie receiver have had some missed opportunities.
While that connection should improve with reps, Pearsall also needs to improve in other areas of his game, according to Kyle Shanahan, who called out his team for a lack of concentration after this weekend’s loss.
The 49ers had an ugly 11 penalties against the Dolphins, including a number of pre-snap offensive penalties that either served as drive-killers or took away scoring opportunities.
“My thoughts are when two guys are off the ball and not one guy’s on and one guy’s off, that’s just a lack of concentration,” Shanahan said on Monday. “When the tight end’s supposed to be off the ball in one play and you’re not, it’s just a concentration issue. I always attribute cadences to focus, things like that. It’s stuff that you do deal with every year, but the way that we dealt with it last night and kind of the timing of when it happened really gave us an extremely small chance to win. And that’s why it was such a big deal yesterday.”
Pearsall was involved in a pair of illegal formation penalties on one drive, negating a red zone drive for the 49ers that ultimately ended in a missed 41-yard field goal. After that drive, wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson was very animated towards his rookie on the sidelines, sending a message that the cameras caught.
“Ricky loves to be coached and he doesn’t take things personal. I think he was just as upset about it,” Shanahan said about Pearsall’s pre-snap penalty. “Sometimes when there’s a lot of things that he’s trying to focus on and stuff and he forgets one little thing, which can end up being a big thing, especially the play that happened with it. And I mean, I didn’t see Hank (WRs coach Leonard Hankerson), but I’m sure you saw his frustration, but that’s how we all were and that’s how Ricky was. And sometimes that’s what comes out naturally, which sometimes can get a guy to focus a little bit harder too.”
It’s been a whirlwind season for Pearsall thus far, but it’s clear there’s still a ton of room for improvement for the wideout in the eyes of the coaching staff, be it as a receiver or with some of the focus issues.
He’ll have a chance to finish the year strong over the final two games, starting with a tough challenge on Monday Night Football when the 49ers take on the Detroit Lions here in Week 17.
