Santa Clara – The 49ers kick off training camp today, and the excitement is centered around the rookie class. This is the first year since 2019 with so many opportunities on offense, particularly at wide receiver. Deebo Samuel was traded in the offseason, and Brandon Aiyuk is still recovering from a knee injury. He may miss the start of the season, and Ricky Pearsall begins camp on the physically unable to perform list due to a hamstring injury sustained during OTAs.
“Ricky had a bad hamstring in OTAs, said head coach Kyle Shanahan. “I mean, not real bad, a normal one. He’s good now. He’s hit all his miles per hour. He is fine. We just haven’t seen him the last two weeks. We’re not going to throw a wide-out out there the first three days. We don’t want to pull it again until we see his conditioning and everything, which we should get in three days, and then he should be good.”
“Anytime we don’t have 12 receivers for any NFL camp that I’ve been in 21 years, I feel light, and so we have 12,” Shanahan said. “That’s a hard thing with PUP because when a guy’s on PUP, it counts on your 90. So even though we have 12 receivers in our building, with B.A. not being able to go throughout training key, it means you only have 11. With Ricky on PUP, for at least the first three practices, it means we only have 10. Which you can get by with 10, until one guy has a sore hamstring the next day, and then you go with nine. And when you have nine in a practice, one of those guys is going to get hurt because you’re having to overload a guy because you’re now three less than 12. And if you do that for a few days, it’s tough. So that’s the hard thing with PUP guys, even though it looks like your numbers are there, they’re not. So, we felt we had to get a guy for the numbers, or eventually you lose one guy that’s going to lead to two more. So that’s really the thought behind all that. And we have that with every position, really.”
Despite the injuries, the 49ers are eager to see fresh talent emerge. New faces include wide receivers Jordan Watkins and Junior Bergen, first-round draft pick Mykel Williams at defensive tackle, and second-rounder Alfred Collins. They’ve also added veteran WR DeMarcus Robinson and cornerbacks Siran Neal and Tre Brown, among others.
“Each year is a new year,” General Manager John Lynch said. “And you earn everything you get. And you know, there’s some excitement and newness every year in this League. With this team, there’s a lot of young new players who we’ve added. And with that comes some unknown, but it’s also exciting. But what I would say is we have a tremendous core of players, and they have to decide what they want this team to be. And a lot of things have to fall in place.”
Speaking of things falling into place, veteran wide receiver Jauan Jennings, currently in contract negotiations, is expected to attend camp and has not requested a trade. Although Jennings has expressed frustration with the process, recent reports by NFL and ESPN analyst Adam Schefter suggested he was seeking a new deal or a trade. His decision to report to camp signals he still wants to remain a 49er.
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