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Editor’s note: This is the 10th installment of a season-long series on a breakout star from the past week of NFL action. The Week 10 winner: San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.
Ricky Pearsall’s first career touchdown came out of a desire for redemption.
Just past the midway point in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco’s first-round rookie wide receiver ran an in-breaker over the middle. Brock Purdy targeted him on the play, but the pass sailed a bit behind Pearsall, allowing the defensive back to break up the pass.
The 49ers still got the first down — the Bucs were hit with defensive holding away from the ball — but Pearsall had a message for Purdy: If we get a similar look, throw that again.
Four plays later, Pearsall got his wish.
Purdy threw a strike over the middle for Pearsall, who turned upfield with plenty of space in front of him. He high-stepped as he picked up speed. Then he stiff-armed Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr. en route to the end zone.
“It was really cool to see all my teammates run down and say congrats,” Pearsall told the team website.
“It was just make a play with the ball in my hands,” he said in his postgame press conference. “Get in the end zone. Get my first [touchdown]. That was my mindset.”
Less than three months after getting shot in the chest as the victim of an attempted armed robbery, the former Florida star had a career-high 73 receiving yards and the score on four receptions in the 49ers’ 23-20 road victory Sunday against the Bucs.
He had a 19.1% chance of scoring on his 46-yard touchdown, where he gained 31 yards after the catch, according to Next Gen Stats. He reached a top speed of 19.47 miles per hour on the play.
Pearsall also came up clutch on San Francisco’s game-winning drive, catching two passes for 20 yards to help set up Jake Moody’s 44-yard field goal. The latter was a 14-yard reception against press man coverage.
“He came up big…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/months-after-shooting-49ers-ricky-pearsall-ascending-each-game
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Publish date : 2024-11-12 17:24:22
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