Ricky Pearsall reportedly returned to the San Francisco 49ers’ facilities just days after being shot during an attempted robbery in the city.
The 49ers placed the wide receiver on the reserve/non-football injury list on Monday but that hasn’t stopped him from returning to work.
The rookie will miss at least four games of his debut NFL season due to the injuries he suffered after talking a bullet to the chest but Pearsall was fit enough to report to San Francisco’s team facilities Monday.
The wideout was in the team’s weight room, according to KNBR’s Tim Ryan who talked to Pearsall about the experience.
‘I talked to him yesterday, he was actually in the weight room,’ Ryan said. ‘Thank God it’s not worse than it was… I already know this, his street cred has gone up tremendously around here.’
Ricky Pearsall reportedly returned to the San Francisco 49ers ‘ facilities on Monday
The 49ers placed the wide receiver on the reserve/non-football injury list after he was shot
Pearsall was released from hospital Sunday 24 hours after he was shot in downtown San Francisco. He was initially listed as being in a ‘serious but stable condition.’
The incident reportedly took place in the city’s Union Square with the football player thought to be targeted for his Rolex rather than his NFL status.
Police immediately apprehended the 17-year-old suspect, who was not wearing shoes after losing them at the scene of the attack. They remained in custody as of Monday night and face potential charges this week.
Authorities say the attempted robbery backfired when the suspect took a bullet from his own gun during his struggle with Pearsall, who refused to surrender.
On Monday, a San Francisco police sergeant revealed Pearsall’s harrowing first words after he was shot.
Via NBC Bay Area, Sgt. Joelle Harrell said: ‘He looks at me and he’s like, “Am I gonna die?” I’m just like, “No.”
‘I take off my hat because I wanted to make eye contact with him. I wanted him to hear me. I said to him, “Listen, look at me. I know you don’t know me, but I want you to trust me, it’s not your time.”‘
Harrell was unaware that Pearsall was an NFL player until she began treating the wound, before she tried to reassure him by saying: ‘Remember you’re gonna be ok. You’re strong, be strong like you are on the field.’
Pearsall was moving slowly during the footage, which was shot from the opposite side of the street. He did not appear to be overly distressed
Cops say the 17-year-old suspect took a bullet from his gun during his struggle with Pearsall
‘And he listened,’ she added, via San Francisco Chronicle . ‘He calmed down, and that’s what I wanted him to do.’
Mayor London Breed called the shooting a ‘terrible and rare incident in Union Square.’
Breed referred to the incident as a ‘setback’ for an area that has seen crime drop in 2024.
‘The data goes out the window sometimes when something happens like this,’ Breed said, as quoted by the Chronicle.
San Francisco has been plagued by shootings for years, although Breed boasted in April that violent crime was down 14 percent compared with the same time frame in 2023. Specifically, gun violence was down 38 percent over the first quarter of 2024, according to City Hall.
