SANTA CLARA — The 49ers will get some reinforcements for Monday night’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, but Ricky Pearsall Jr. won’t be one of them.
Pearsall was ruled out Saturday by the 49ers after reinjuring a PCL strain late in in their 37-24 win over the Tennessee Titans. He did not travel to Indianapolis and will remain behind to rehab with the hope of getting him back for their Dec. 28 home game against the Chicago Bears.
“He was close, but not close enough,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Pearsall caught six passes for 96 yards against the Titans, withstanding an early ankle sprain and playing well before the re-injuring his PCL. He has 31 receptions for 443 yards and is the 49ers’ most explosive outside threat but will miss his seventh game of the season.
A first-round draft pick in 2024, Pearsall has played in 19 of 31 games for the 49ers after starting his career being shot through the chest before the season opener as a rookie and also dealing with shoulder issues. General manager John Lynch, during his weekly radio spot on KNBR-680, pushed back on the idea that Pearsall is injury prone.
“So, he’s just having one of those years,” Lynch said. “I think we can all see we’re better [with him], and he’s a huge part of our offense. Ricky’s doing everything he can to get back on the field.”
Also out for the 49ers are cornerback Renardo Green (neck) and quarterback Kurtis Roarke (knee), with defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) questionable.
Back at full strength and removed from the injury list entirely are middle linebacker Tatum Bethune and defensive end Sam Okuayinonu. Bethune will resume his role as a starter and defensive-play caller after making five starts when Fred Warner was lost to an ankle fracture.
A win over Indianapolis (8-6) would put the 49ers (10-4) in the playoffs. Subsequent wins over Chicago and Seattle would earn the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
“It’s been tough to sit out and watch all of the games,” Bethune said. “I told some of the guys I was getting bored chilling with the strength staff and the therapy guys. I’m just excited to be back on the field with my brothers, finish this thing out and possibly get that first seed. I’m just happy to be back.”
In five games as a starter, Bethune had 10 total tackles three times and also had games of 14 and 16. He’s regarded as a stout run defender and the 49ers will need him to deal with Indianapolis and Jonathan Taylor, the NFL’s leading rusher with 1,443 yards and 16 touchdowns.
“We’re excited man,” Bethune said. “There’s opportunities to make more plays and show ourselves against people who have doubted us. We’re just going to out there with our hair on fire and play Niner ball.”
Notable
— Shanahan said Green was shut down because of a neck injury that didn’t improve. His likely replacement in the starting lineup is Darrell Luter Jr.
— Middle linebacker Eric Kendricks, who had a calf strain after signing, is a potential promotion from the practice squad for the Colts game.
— Rookie linebacker Nick Martin, who has missed the last two games with concussion symptoms, was placed on injured reserve, which ends his regular season. He was injured in the Cleveland game on Nov. 30 and has been in the protocol ever since.
— Former 49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner will play for the first time since Week 9 after going on injured reserve with a neck injury.
Cornerback Sauce Gardner (calf strain), however will not play. Cornerback Charvarius Ward, a former 49er, went on injured reserve after a third concussion. Also out is wide receiver Anthony Gould (foot).
— The NFL fined Tennessee defensive back $23,186 for an illegal hip drop tackcle on Pearsall, a fine the 49ers were expecting.
Hollow rushing yards
The consternation over the 49ers’ giving up 136 yards and 6.8 yards per carry to a Tennessee team ranked 31st on the ground coming in may be overblown.
Surely Taylor will have his way against the 49ers Monday night.
But here’s the rub — Tennessee gained its final 61 yards on six carries after the 49ers had taken a 31-10 lead after Brock Purdy’s 1-yard flip to George Kittle. Included were runs of 20 yards by Tony Pollard and 20 yards by Tyjae Spears.
At that point, the 49ers were only too happy to let the Titans run the ball and the clock. Not that they were giving away free yards, but they were set up to defend the pass in the a two-minute situation and instead got gashed by some RPO runs that were inconsequential to winning or losing the game.
The Titans closed to within 34-24, but the 49ers were never in danger of losing.
So while defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is fond of his unit defending “every blade of grass,” sometimes the grass is greener with late runs by the opposition when it comes to maintaining a lead.
“I gave up on yardage a long time ago,” Saleh said. “It’s about winning football games, keeping points down, doing whatever you can from a schematic standpoint and a play-calling standpoint to make sure that the other team’s not in the end zone. And if it means you give up yards, then so be it.”
Resurgent O-line
Remember when the 49ers’ offensive line was an area of concern? Guard Dominick Puni after a camp injury is a shell of what he was playing all but one snap as a rookie last season. Center Jake Brendel was public enemy No. 1 among the fan base and amateur analysts. Even Hall of Fame-bound tackle Trent Williams was showing signs of slippage.
Now? Not so much. Puni is back to his old self. The grumbling about Brendel has subsided. Williams is coming off his best game of the season. Burford has stepped in nicely for hard-luck left guard Ben Bartch.
“I think with any O-line it takes time in the year to grow, to just start getting into a rhythm,” offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. “Dom had an injury and you’ve seen him get better each week. It helps that we’ve had Spencer out there for an extended period of time, so it’s been a cohesive unit. They’re doing a heck of a job, and knock on wood, hope it stays that way.”
Shanahan’s milestone philosophy
Christian McCaffrey is 78 yards shy of 1,000 yards rushing (922) and 180 yards shy of 1,000 yards receiving, meaning he needs to average 26 yards per game on the ground and 60 in the air over the final three to be the first player in NFL history with two 1,000-1,000 seasons.
All wide receiver Kendrick Bourne needs is a single yard receiving to go from 499 to 500 and cash in a $500,000 bonus which was agreed upon when he arrived as a free agent.
Shanahan would rather not know any of this . . . unless, of course . . .
“People have fed (information) to me in the past an I didn’t react that well, so they’re hesitant to feed it to me. If the game was out or something, I’d love to know something like that, to help someone out.”
He’s all for McCaffrey getting his milestone, but not at the expense of the game on the field.
And of course he’s been told about Bourne’s pending bonus by Bourne himself as well as others. Bourne caught a 6-yard screen from Purdy at the end of the Tennessee game to get to 499.
“I know K.B. is one-yard from his bonus, but the fact that he spun on that screen at the last deal of the game, I said it’s on him,” Shanahan said. “But we should be able to get him one more.”