The 49ers have a lot to figure out with their wideout room ahead of Sunday.
The San Francisco 49ers are quite banged up at wide receiver heading into Week 4, where they face the Jacksonville Jaguars at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.
Heading into the week, the 49ers got a minor scare when Ricky Pearsall did not practice because of knee soreness stemming from the team’s Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Pearsall was quite active in that game, catching eight passes for 117 yards in the 16-15 win.
However, the wideout brushed off any concerns, noting that sitting out was merely just a precaution and that he would’ve suited up if it were a game.
Pearsall ultimately practiced on Thursday in a limited capacity and did the same on Friday, earning a questionable designation for the weekend, though it seems like he’ll ultimately play on Sunday.
Jauan Jennings, on the other hand, continued to battle his shoulder and ankle injuries that forced him to sit out last weekend. Jennings did not practice on either Wednesday or Thursday, but was able to practice in a limited capacity on Friday, marking him questionable as well for the game.
Last week, Jennings was unable to practice at all, though he was still questionable before being ruled out entirely against the Cardinals. The Athletic’s Matt Barrows noted Jennings ‘did appear to be affected by his ankle injury while running routes’ during the early portion of Friday’s practice.
With both of those injuries, it was a good sign that the 49ers got some reinforcements back at wide receiver this week as Demarcus Robinson returned from his three-game suspension. Robinson had been a top wideout for the 49ers during the offseason, and stepped in immediately this week.
What could Robinson’s role be amid San Francisco’s injuries?
“It’s good to get him back this week,” Shanahan said of Robinson when talking to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “We’ve got to be smart with him. You can’t just throw him out there after he’s been out for the last month. It has been different not having Ricky [Pearsall] practice all week and not having JJ [Jauan Jennings] practice all week because of injuries. We’ll see how it ends up on Sunday. I think Ricky’s got a better shot [at playing] than JJ, but we’ll see how both of it goes.”
“So D-Rob’s been able to get a lot of reps this week. We’ve got to be smart in the game. But, it’s still up [in the air] right now because we’ve got to see how it kind of pans out. Is JJ going to dress? Is Ricky going to dress? That’s kind of the stuff [you’re thinking about]. And if everything goes as planned, you’ve repped them at those positions. If things change, we haven’t gotten all the reps at the other positions, but we definitely talk about it because we know that might happen.”
It doesn’t seem likely that Robinson would get a full workload for the 49ers this week, but he’s likely to at least play some meaningful reps alongside the other healthy wideouts for San Francisco.
Along with Pearsall and Jennings, the 49ers also have Marques Valdez-Scantling, Kendrick Bourne, and Skyy Moore in the receiver room. Jordan Watkins has already been ruled out with his calf injury, so if San Francisco feels iffy on Jennings’s status, they could elevate a receiver from the practice squad to fill out their spots.
Category: General Sports
