The San Francisco 49ers host the Chicago Bears on Sunday night football in Week 16 and I hope to have some key offensive players in the lineup. Tight end George Kittle and receiver Ricky Pearsall are questionable heading into Sunday. Kittle is dealing with an ankle injury from Week 16 and seems a little less likely to play, while Pearsall is dealing with ongoing ankle and knee issues and seems a little more likely to play.
The game starts at 8:20 p.m. ET, which means we won’t have official information on the status of Pearsall or Kittle until 6:50 p.m.
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Ricky Pearsall injury update
Game status: Pearsall is ACTIVE for Week 17 against the Bears.
Morning Game Day Update: Adam Schefter reports that Pearsall is “likely to play” against the Bears on Sunday night football.
Pearsall participated on a limited basis all three days this week before receiving the questionable tag. He suffered his injury in Week 15 on a hip drop tackle on his first play of the game. He was DNP all three days of Week 16 before being ruled out on Saturday. However, he has also been dealing with knee issues in particular for much of the season. He suffered a strained ACL that cost him six weeks midseason.
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Fantasy football analysis
It’s been an up-and-down year for Pearsall when he’s been healthy. He played four games to open the season, missed six in a row and then played four more. In his most recent game, in Week 15, he caught six passes for 96 yards. In the previous three games, he caught five passes for a total of 20 yards. Before his midseason injury, he had over 100 receiving yards in Week 1 and Week 3.
Pearsall is boom or bust, but even the boom value is primarily in PPR leagues. It’s a flex game with upside WR in PPR leagues and not quite a flex game with maybe some upside in WR3 if things go well. If Pearsall plays and Kittle doesn’t, there are some interesting upsides, but if you can’t afford a low-floor option, you’re better off looking elsewhere.