TAMPA, Fla. — Just 71 days after his NFL career was placed in jeopardy, 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall scored his first career touchdown.
The wide receiver, who was shot in an attempted robbery on Aug. 31, caught four of his six targets for 73 yards and a score in San Francisco's 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
FIRST CAREER TD FOR PEARSALL 🫡 pic.twitter.com/BTBWEJMi0b
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 10, 2024
After the play, fullback Kyle Juszczyk picked up the football for safe keeping until it was safely in Pearsall's hands after the game.
“Probably just to hang it up somewhere in the room,” Pearsall said of what he'll do with the football. “Probably should start a little memorabilia area in my room or something.”
Pearsall breaks down his first NFL touchdown catch and shares his plan for the ball 🥹 pic.twitter.com/WJAtGoRGaN
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) November 10, 2024
Pearsall had a 19.1-percent chance of scoring on his 46-yard touchdown, gaining 31 yards after catch and 13 yards over expected, per Next Gen Stats. The 49ers' first-round pick of the 2024 NFL Draft reached a top speed of 19.47 mph on his first career touchdown, his fastest speed through his first three games this season.
San Francisco 49ers
Ricky Pearsall had a 19.1% chance of scoring on his 46-yard TD, gaining 31 yards after catch, +13 over expected.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 10, 2024
Pearsall reached a top speed of 19.47 mph on his first career touchdown, the fastest speed through his first three games this season.#SFvsTB | #FTTB pic.twitter.com/e6w9aryW99
Pearsall wants to continue building chemistry with quarterback Brock Purdy so that he can add to his NFL keepsake collection. The wideout owned up to one of his two incompletions after the game.
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"I think the most important thing is to continue to develop that trust with Brock,” Pearsall said. “I think the reason that the pass was behind me on that one drive is because I cut it short. Just getting on the same page with that. It’s going to get much better, and I’ll get more and more confidence going into it.”
Deebo Samuel, who quickly became a mentor for the young receiver, is proud of how far Pearsall has come, not only recovering from the incident but also missing much of training camp with both shoulder and hamstring injuries.
“Worlds can’t even explain, dealing with what he dealt with,” Samuel said. “For him to continue to stack weeks and weeks of improvement, the sky is the limit from him, and I always say Ricky will be a great player.”
Pearsall was a significant contributor in a collective effort by the 49ers' offense, with the second-most receiving yards behind only Jauan Jennings, who caught seven of his 11 targets for 93 yards on the day.
