MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The 49ers couldn’t get out of their own way in a 29-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Among the costly miscues were two illegal formation penalties on rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.
Wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson got into a heated one-sided talk with the rookie after both mistakes were committed within four plays.
Ricky Pearsall getting some pointers on the sideline 😅
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 22, 2024
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“Those are both on me,” Pearsall said after the game. “I just have to communicate to my teammate better, to the ref better. Those were definitely both on me. I have to fix it up and just get better at it.”
Upon the 49ers draft Pearsall in April, Deebo Samuel took the rookie under his wing and has grown close to the Florida product.
Pearsall slowly has been integrated into the offense after missing much of the offseason program and training camp due to shoulder, and hamstring injuries, and a gunshot wound sustained in an attempted robbery on Aug. 31 in San Francisco.
San Francisco 49ers
Samuel explained that as a young player in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, mistakes are bound to happen.
“It’s just mental errors,” Samuel said. “At the end of the day, it happens. I got all the respect in the world for Ricky, all the hard work he put in. Those are the simple things. I’ve been there before too in this offense. With so much terminology, and knowing what to listen to, and what not to listen to, and it just happened fast. It’s a part of growing in the offense.”
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The 49ers ultimately could not overcome their mistakes, including Brock Purdy's late interception, but Samuel shared that he provided words of encouragement to Pearsall after the two penalties.
“I had to wait, as you could see, Hank got on him a good bit,” Samuel said. “I was a little frustrated at the time. It comes with the game. I went to him, ‘Next play bro. I ain’t mad at you. We’re good, we’ll be all right. Don’t dwell on it, just move forward.' "
Although frustrated and upset with his errors, Pearsall attempted to keep an upbeat attitude and finished the game with four catches for 37 yards.
“He’s the energizer in the group,” Samuel said. “You may think I am but Ricky got all the energy in the world at practice. Dancing, moving around, good energy pregame on the sideline, that’s just him.”
Pearsall has two more games left in his rookie season to get more accustomed to the intricacies of Shanahan’s offense.
As Samuel can attest to, every rep is valuable.
