Injury updates on Ricky Pearsall and Christian McCaffrey, and Jordan Mason

Ricky Pearsall is set to return to practice, while the next couple of weeks are critical for Christian McCaffrey.

The San Francisco 49ers lost the league’s leading rusher about a quarter and a half into Thursday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. Running back Jordan Mason left the game early with a shoulder injury.

Mason returned to begin the second half, where he carried the ball from scrimmage on the first play. But he ran off the field and would not return. The sideline cameras panned to Mason multiple times, where he was seen trying to loosen up his shoulder, to no avail.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Mason “went back in, and it just hurt him too much.” Shanahan added that Mason thought he was going to be all right and could have even played in the second half had it been an emergency situation.

The 49ers will know more about Mason’s injury sometime during the afternoon, as he’s scheduled to have X-rays on Friday. Shanahan clarified that just because Mason believed he could go back in, that doesn’t mean his injury was minor: “Adrenaline during these games is a little different.”

Mason was well on his way to 100 yards and possibly could have eclipsed his season high from Week 1 had he played a full game. Mason finished with 73 yards on nine carries, including a gain of 38 yards. Isaac Guerendo’s 76-yard run toward the end of the game will have some thinking that anybody can do what Mason has done, but that’s simply not true.

If Mason has to miss any time, that’d be a significant blow an offense that’s already without its starting running back.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer had an update about Christian McCaffrey and whether his timeline has changed:

“Going back to August, when he started to feel like himself again, they ramped him up towards the opener against the Jets. Ultimately, the Achilles flared up on him. After the opener, they ended up shutting him down.

He just started feeling like himself again last week, so they started to ramp him up over the last few days. The good news is, that there’s been no flare-up. There’s been no setbacks. He feels good, so the Niners are optimistic about where he is. But this is a scary deal for him. He’s determined to play this year. I’d say the two or three weeks are critical.

Breer said first-round rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was close to being ready this week, but the 49ers decided to play it safe. Kyle Shanahan said the team decided against opening Pearsall’s window since the team wasn’t going to practice leading up to this week.