3 49ers Starters Have a Bleak Outlook to Play Against the Rams

Having to play on the Rams on Thursday Night Football this week comes at a terrible time for the 49ers and these three starters.

Sep 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (1) before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars in that fashion has to sting the San Francisco 49ers.

However, the loss gets exacerbated by the injuries that three starters sustained. These injuries give these 49ers starters a bleak outlook to play against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday.

Ricky Pearsall

Sep 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (1) before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Ricky Pearsall exited the game against the Jaguars early in the third quarter with a knee injury. It occurred on a play where he tried to reach up and grab a high ball towards the sideline.

Pearsall landed on his knee, the one he dealt with soreness during practice last week. He tried to give it a go later on, but had to shut it down, citing "instability" as one of the issues.

"They're thinking more of like a minor PCL or something like that, is what our guess is," said Kyle Shanahan on Monday's conference call. "You know, just landing on it hard, so hopefully it won't be too bad. Obviously, a huge concern with the Thursday Night game and stuff."

I'd say it's most likely that Pearsall will not be active for this game. Minor or not, the 49ers can't risk him if his PCL is aggravated. Playing the Rams without him will be a blow to the offense.

Jauan Jennings

Sep 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) reacts after catching a pass during the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Shanahan didn't provide any new update on Jauan Jennings. However, I'd suspect he's a long shot to play against the Rams after injuring his ribs versus Jacksonville.

Jennings was already toughing it out in that game with a shoulder and ankle injury. He was limited for the entire game, and now that he has a new injury, it's asking a lot for him to be active on a quick turnaround.

Don't expect him to be active against the Rams, but I wouldn't put it past Jennings to suit up anyway. He's that tough a player.

Brock Purdy

Sep 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) passes the ball during the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Last but not least is Brock Purdy. Shanahan revealed that later, after the loss to the Jaguars, Purdy informed him that he was feeling toe soreness.

That's immediately a red flag on several levels. It means that he never fully recovered from his turf toe injury, which seemed evident given how poorly he played against the Jaguars.

"He didn't indicate it to me at all during the game," Shanahan said. "I talked to him on the phone last night and he said it was starting to bother him a little bit last night. But, nothing during the game at all.”

The 49ers mismanaged Purdy. In hindsight, he should've never played on Sunday. Now, he is feeling his turf toe injury again and has his status is up in the air versus the Rams.

"Anytime guys are sore and hurting on a Monday, you usually don't stress too much about it. But, anytime you have a Thursday game, it's a totally different element

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