Ricky Pearsall ready to return; more ramp-up for Brock Purdy: 49ers minutia minute – The Athletic

It’s safe to say the San Francisco 49ers aren’t fast starters.

Over the last three weeks, their opponents have opened the game with scoring drives of 16, 10 and 10 plays. The Los Angeles Rams capped off their 10-play opener with a stand-up touchdown run by Kyren Williams, foreshadowing a day in which the Rams didn’t have to sweat much on offense. They committed no turnovers, held the ball for 32:32 and ran 69 plays to the 49ers’ 63.

Here’s how the individual snaps were divided:

Quarterback: Mac Jones 63

Jones’ 84.6 percent completion percentage (33 of 39) was the second highest of his career and the best ever for a 49ers quarterback with at least 30 pass attempts

• Jones, 84.6
• Jeff Garcia, 81.8, Dec. 17, 2000 versus Chicago
• Steve Young, 80.5, Nov. 24, 1996 at Washington

The 49ers will continue to increase Brock Purdy’s practice snaps this week, but Kyle Shanahan stopped short of declaring him the starter for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. He said he wanted Purdy to practice in full over an extended period, something he hasn’t done since aggravating his toe injury during the Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“We want three aggressive practices, and we want to make sure he feels good after all of them each day, too,” Shanahan said.

Running back: Christian McCaffrey 49, Kyle Juszczyk (fullback) 31, Brian Robinson Jr. 14

McCaffrey’s 12 rushing attempts were his second fewest (eight versus Houston) of the season, but he’s still on track to become the NFL’s first 1,000/1,000 player since he did it in 2019. At his current pace, he’d finish with 1,064 rushing yards and 1,176 receiving yards.

Robinson, meanwhile, ran over tacklers for the second straight game. Against the New York Giants a week ago, 43 of his 53 rushing yards came after contact. On Sunday, 26 of 41 yards came after contact. He also scored in both games.

Wide receiver: Jauan Jennings 58, Kendrick Bourne 43, Demarcus Robinson 29, Skyy Moore 11, Jordan Watkins 3

Shanahan said Ricky Pearsall is on track to return to practice Wednesday. Pearsall injured his knee against the Jaguars and to this point hasn’t hit his speed baselines when running on a side field.

“Hopefully the next two days go good, and if they do, then he’ll be back out there,” Shanahan said. “He had a good weekend.”

Moore’s 11 snaps were the most since he played 34 in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals, a game in which Jennings and Robinson were absent. The uptick was no doubt an acknowledgement of how well he played, particularly as a run blocker, a week earlier against the Giants.

Shanahan said the 49ers would not open Brandon Aiyuk’s practice window this week.

Tight end: George Kittle 57, Luke Farrell 17, Jake Tonges 3

Kittle delivered several sparks, including a fingertip grab to give the 49ers their initial first down, a tackle-breaking 20-yard gain in the second quarter and a tightrope touchdown lunge in the fourth quarter. He caught all nine targets — three of them contested catches — for a season-high 84 yards.

Offensive line: Trent Williams 63, Dominick Puni 63, Jake Brendel 63, Colton McKivitz 63, Spencer Burford 35, Ben Bartch 28

Burford and Bartch alternated at left guard, with Burford starting the game and playing two series before giving way to Bartch for a series. Bartch was activated from injured reserve Saturday following a Week 2 high-ankle sprain.

After struggling with Will Anderson and Brian Burns in previous weeks, the 49ers did well against Jared Verse and company. Verse was held to a season-low two quarterback pressures, although fellow edge rusher Byron Young finished with four.

Sunday was the first time this season the 49ers surrendered no sacks, with Williams, McKivitz and Puni, who seems healthier than he’s been all season, grading well in pass protection.

Quarterback pressures allowed:

• Brendel: 4
• Burford 3
• McKivitz 1
• Puni 1
• Williams 1
• Bartch 0

Defensive line: Sam Okuayinonu 47, Jordan Elliott 38, Kalia Davis 37, Bryce Huff 34, Keion White 33, CJ West 29, Kevin Givens 28, Clelin Ferrell 24, Robert Beal 10

Davis and White were credited with a half-sack each when they took down Matthew Stafford in the second quarter, the first sack of the season for both. The 49ers have 12 sacks on the season and are on pace for 20, which would be — by far — their lowest total since 2000.

White took most of his snaps as a defensive end, including 17 on the left side. He played six snaps at defensive tackle, per TruMedia.

Quarterback pressures:

• Huff 3
• Ferrell 2
• Givens 2
• White 1
• Davis 1

Linebacker: Tatum Bethune 66, Dee Winters 63, Luke Gifford 26, Curtis Robinson 3

The 49ers had a hard time keeping track of the Rams’ tight ends, as all four had at least one catch, and two — Davis Allen and Colby Parkinson — caught wide-open touchdowns. Gifford, the team’s strongside linebacker, was targeted four times and allowed three catches for 50 yards.

To this point, third-round rookie Nick Martin has practiced exclusively at weakside linebacker, which is Winters’ spot. Shanahan was asked Monday whether there’s been any talk about Martin getting practice snaps at strongside linebacker.

“Yeah, there’s discussions about it, and if we think that’s the best thing to do for our team, we’ll do it,” he said. “But we don’t think that is (the best thing).”

Cornerback: Deommodore Lenoir 69, Renardo Green 69, Upton Stout 29

The 49ers are not effective with their blitzes. They called a season-high 20 blitzes against Stafford, who completed 14 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. The outing was similar to a Week 8 loss in Houston, where C.J. Stroud was 11 of 13 with a passer rating of 121.2 against the blitz.

Stout and Winters were the two most frequent blitzers, with Winters getting three pressures on eight blitzes and Stout two pressures on seven blitzes.

The 49ers hosted free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. on Monday. Samuel, 26, had spinal fusion surgery in April and has been cleared to resume his career. He’s also met with the Panthers, Packers and Vikings, and he has upcoming visits with the Bears and Steelers.

Safety: Ji’Ayir Brown 69, Malik Mustapha 69, Jason Pinnock 16

The 49ers used their dime defense (six defensive backs, including Pinnock) prominently, but it wasn’t effective. Here’s a list of all the times they ran it, along with the result of the play.

• 1Q, third-and-3: 49ers call timeout because there are too many men on the field
• 1Q, third-and-6: Pass to Puka Nacua for 15 yards
• 1Q, second-and-3: Kyren Williams 9-yard rush
• 2Q, third-and-11: Penalty on 49ers for too many men
• 2Q, third-and-6: Incomplete pass to tight end Jake Ferguson. Rams punt.
• 2Q, third-and-8: Pass to Davante Adams for 15 yards
• 3Q: fourth-and-3: Pass to Nacua for 4 yards
• 4Q: second-and-10: Screen to Nacua for 13 yards

Special teams: Gifford 22, Siran Neal 22, Darrell Luter Jr. 22, Beal 19, Farrell 17, C. Robinson 17, Tonges 15, Lucas 13, Martin 13, Pinnock 12, Brown 11, Isaac Guerendo 9, Moore 9, Eddy Piñeiro 7, B. Robinson 7, Thomas Morstead 6, White 6, West 6, Davis 6, Elliott 6, Bethune 5, Jon Weeks 5, McKivitz 3, Puni 3, Austen Pleasants 3, Matt Hennessy 3, Burford 3, Bartch 3, Juszczyk 2

Pineiro’s laces-out extra point attempt in the fourth quarter was blocked when Verse collapsed the left side of the 49ers’ line, including Hennessy.

Moore’s 27-yard punt return in the second quarter, which set up the 49ers’ initial touchdown, was his longest of the season. The Rams, who were breaking in a new kicker, sent six of their seven kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. Moore grabbed the seventh off a bounce and returned it 16 yards.