Ricky Pearsall finally made his NFL debut on Sunday, 50 days on from being shot through the chest in an attempted robbery in San Francisco. After knocking the rust off in the 49ers' latest defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, more opportunities are likely to come his way, with Pearsall set to the beneficiary of another injury blow for San Francisco. 

The 49ers saw All-Pro wide receiver suffer what they believe to be a torn ACL in the second quarter of the 28-18 loss, which dropped San Francisco to 3-4.

With Aiyuk out, Deebo Samuel playing just four snaps because of illness and Jauan Jennings unavailable because of a hip injury, Pearsall played 48 of the 63 offensive snaps.

While Samuel and Jennings are both likely to return in Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys, Aiyuk's long-term absence will provide Pearsall with more snaps on which to vindicate his status as a first-round pick.

Despite San Francisco falling out of first place in the NFC West with the loss, placing pressure on the 49ers to get back on track, Pearsall responded with a dose of perspective when asked if he feels urgency to catch up and fill the void left by his former Arizona State teammate.

"Right now I'm not feeling like much urgency, as you would say. It's more of just making sure that I reach out to my guy," Pearsall told a postgame press conference. "That's still my brother at the end of the day. For me, it's much bigger than football. 

"He's going through something right now and I'm making sure I show that my love for him and sending prayers his way and checking on my guy because he's a really good buddy of mine. 

"In this game he went down and I had to play more than expected and really everybody expected, but I just try to make the most of my opportunities."

Despite his heavy snap count, Pearsall only had 21 yards on three receptions as the 49ers struggled to beat the Chiefs' man coverage.

Yet after the huge adversity he has faced at the start of his NFL career, Pearsall still viewed his first game in the pros as a success.

"It [getting back on the field] meant everything considering all the adversity I went through this past month," Pearsall said. 

"It was really good to go out there with my guys again. I think that's a refresher for me. When the incident happened, the first thing I was thinking about was the guys and coaches in this locker room and the entire staff. They did a really good job of rallying around me and making sure I stayed up. It was a huge blessing for me today.”

And Pearsall doesn't think he needs to do much different to improve on what he produced in his first game and thrive with the extra snaps he is poised to receive.

“There’s a little bit of a difference, obviously," explained Pearsall when asked about the differences between trying to beat coverage in the SEC with Florida compared to doing so in the pros. 

"The NFL is the best of the best, so there’s that difference. I still think there’s similar techniques to beat a DB at the end of the day. I have to stick to those techniques and keep working on it and keep getting better."

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