Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers are back in primetime in Week 16, taking on the Indianapolis Colts on the road on Monday Night Football.
After the Seattle Seahawks won against the Los Angeles Rams in a thriller on Thursday night, the path to the No. 1 seed cleared up for San Francisco: win out and get the division and first-round bye.
The first challenge ahead is the Colts, who will start 44-year-old Phillip Rivers again at quarterback. Indianapolis was quite competitive last weekend against the Seattle Seahawks, losing due to a go-ahead field goal in the final minute after having one of their own.
So, this one could be more of a challenge than expected. And the 49ers could be without their No. 1 receiver.
Ricky Pearsall has yet to practice this week, dealing with knee and ankle issues as he re-aggravated his PCL injury from earlier this season. It’s been an up-and-down year for Pearsall, who has continued to battle injuries, leading him to play in just eight games so far.
With two DNPs in practice, one might think he’ll be ruled out against Indianapolis. But, head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Friday that the wideout doesn’t necessarily need to practice to play.
“He doesn’t need a full practice,” Shanahan said about Pearsall’s availability on KNBR. “I mean, not at all. If Ricky was able to fully show everything just on Sunday, I would feel good with that.
“I [felt] a little different at that last time because he had been out a month and ended up being out longer than a month. So that was totally different. You can’t just have a guy come back after that much time off. But Ricky’s been practicing here the last month. He’s been good to go. He had a setback with his injuries, hasn’t been able to go here the last two days, but we’ll hold out hope all the way until Monday that it’ll heal up and give him a chance to play.”
It’s sounding like Pearsall might end up as a game-time decision. If he can’t go, we’ll see who the 49ers rely on more at receiver behind Jauan Jennings.
