Ricky Pearsall’s recovery is about to reach the field for the San Francisco 49ers.
The first-round rookie is expected to return to practice next week, according to The MMQB’s Albert Breer. That return would be approximately six weeks after Pearsall was shot in the chest during an alleged attempted robbery on Sept. 1.
The Niners selected Pearsall 31st overall out of Florida in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was already dealing with injuries during training camp when the shooting delayed his NFL debut indefinitely.
Pearsall’s wound, while bloody, was fortunately a through-and-through that avoided any vital organs, allowing for a quicker recovery than you usually see from victims shot in the chest. He was out of the hospital the day after the shooting and visited Niners practice a few days later. The Niners were confident he would play this season and a return to practice in mid-October would bear that out.
Pearsall has been present in street clothes at several Niners games this season, including their “Thursday Night Football” game against the Seattle Seahawks this week. Officially, he is on San Francisco’s Reserve/Non-Football Injury.
The incident in question reportedly saw a 17-year-old male from Tracy, Calif. allegedly attempt to steal a Rolex watch from Pearsall at gunpoint. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound Pearsall resisted, leading to a struggle that ended with Pearsall shot in the chest and the defendant shot in the arm.
From The Athletic:
“It was a rather extended struggle between Mr. Pearsall and my client,” Dunlap said, describing this security footage. “They were really fighting back and forth on the sidewalk. As you might imagine, Mr. Pearsall gets the best of it. He does kind of — I don’t know if you’ve ever wrestled or not — a nice hip toss and throws my client to the ground and ends up on top of him.”
The teenager has apologized through his attorney and now faces charges of attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and second-degree attempted robbery. The attempted murder charge is the most serious, with the defendant’s attorney claiming to have surveillance video showing he didn’t mean to shoot Pearsall.
A big question remaining is if the defendant will be tried as an adult. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins can request a hearing with a judge to determine if the juvenile system is equipped to rehabilitate the defendant if convicted. Should he stay in the juvenile system, the defendant would not be able to be imprisoned past the age of 25.
No decision has been announced by Jenkins’ office in the month-plus since the defendant’s arraignment.