Ricky Pearsall is set to miss at least the first four games of the NFL season, as he has been placed on the reserve/non-football injury list after the rookie was shot during an attempted robbery in San Francisco.
The 49ers made the decision for their wide receiver on Monday afternoon, which fell 48 hours after the incident.
Pearsall will miss games against the Jets, Vikings, Rams and Patriots, and he would be eligible to return for the team’s fifth game against the Cardinals on Oct. 6.
The team’s first-round draft pick (No. 31 overall) sustained several injuries after being shot in the chest by a 17-year-old, who tried to steal Pearsall’s Rolex watch on Saturday.
The NFLer was walking home alone around 3:37 p.m. in the city’s Union Square near Geary Street, close to Grant Street before there was a struggle over the gun, which fired off several times and hit both Pearsall in the chest as well as the teenager.
A police officer rushed to the scene, praying with Pearsall, and both victims were quickly rushed off to San Francisco General Hospital.
Pearsall was released on Sunday and his mother, Erin, shared a Facebook post earlier in the day, saying her son was “in good spirits” after he was taken to the hospital in “serious by stable condition,” as the 49ers described.
“First and far (sic) most I want to thank God for protecting my baby boy,” she wrote hours before the announcement of Pearsall getting released. “He is extremely lucky, God shielded him. He was shot in the chest and it exited out his back. Thanks be to God it missed his vital organs.”
Pearsall, 23, played collegiately at Arizona State and later Florida for his final two years.
In his final year with the Gators, Pearsall tallied 965 yards receiving for four touchdowns across 12 games.
He has already dealt with hamstring and shoulder injuries throughout the 49ers’ training camp.
Pearsall will join an elite wide receiver room in San Francisco alongside Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk.
“He and his family, along with the entire San Francisco 49ers organization, would like to thank the San Francisco Police Department, emergency medical services, doctors and staff at San Francisco General Hospital,” the 49ers said in a statement on Sunday.
