49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall watches workout 5 days after shooting

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall attended practice as a spectator five days after he was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery.

Pearsall was shot in the chest and hospitalized overnight following the shooting in central San Francisco on Saturday. He was released from the hospital on Sunday and was back at the team facility on Monday.

During the first part of the training, he walked around the field with a football in his hand, open to reporters.

“It’s just amazing to just see him,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “That he could walk around and stuff, that he could talk to people in the emergency room and they said out of 100 people, two survived. That I could see him the next day and he could walk, that he was coming to meetings, that he was doing all that.”

The Niners have placed Pearsall on the non-football-related injured list, sidelining him for at least four weeks as he recovers physically and emotionally from the shooting.

Shanahan said Pearsall will need about a week before he begins his rehabilitation process and can return to the field.

Pearsall was walking alone with grocery bags to his car shortly after 3:30 p.m. Saturday when a juvenile suspect attempted to rob him at gunpoint near Union Square, officials said. The 17-year-old was arraigned Wednesday in juvenile court on a charge of attempted murder

Officers in the area responded immediately and provided emergency medical care and arrested the suspect. Pearsall was shown on witness video with a large chest wound as he was helped into an ambulance.

Pearsall was lucky that the bullet passed through his body without damaging any organs or nerves.

“Where he was shot is about two inches below his praying hands tattoo,” Shanahan said. “The whole story is pretty amazing.”

Shanahan said the first moments after the shooting were frightening because he didn’t know how serious Pearsall’s injuries were, but was soon reassured that Pearsall was OK.

Pearsall then FaceTimed with his coach and later did the same with his teammates, who gathered for a team party at Shanahan’s house Saturday night.

“Thank God he’s still alive with us today,” All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner said. “It was a crazy situation and I’m so glad he’s back here with us.”

Pearsall was selected 31st overall in the first round by the 49ers in April, but has struggled with injuries since joining the team.

He missed a period of training camp with hamstring and shoulder problems, but returned to training last week in a blue jersey while his shoulder heals.

Pearsall began his college career at Arizona State and transferred to Florida for his final two seasons. He had 65 catches for 965 yards and four touchdowns last season for the Gators and finished his college career with 159 catches for 2,420 yards and 14 TDs.

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