In the wake of linebacker Fred Warner's devastating season-ending ankle injury last Sunday, it's reasonable to assume the San Francisco 49ers offense will have to carry a depleted and primarily young defense going forward.
Yet the offense, too, is equally banged up and shorthanded.
One of head coach Kyle Shanahan's more notable absences stems from second-year wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who suffered a knee injury during the Niners' Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars and has missed the two subsequent games since.
San Francisco has sorely missed Pearsall's presence, and getting him back on the field is paramount to fully unlocking Shanahan's offense.
But the exact timeline is far from clear, even after general manager John Lynch spoke of the receiver's recovery and return.
John Lynch doesn't exactly clarify Ricky Pearsall's return timeline
Speaking on his Thursday weekly appearance on KNBR 680's Murph & Markus Show, Lynch gave some insight on the wide array of 49ers injuries and provided a bit more detail about Pearsall's own return to action.
"I don't think worse than we initially thought," Lynch said of Pearsall's lingering injury. "I think we all know that wide receiver is a tough spot, with certain injuries, to come back. You've got to be able to run full speed. You've got to be able to get in and out of breaks, and that demands a lot of your body. And Ricky is doing the best he can to get back out there. We'll see if he can get out there later this week."
OK, sounds modestly encouraging enough, right? Pearsall is edging closer to his return, and it doesn't appear as if the initial diagnosis was wrong.
The problem, though, is Lynch's comments aren't unlike what was first said of the receiver after originally suffering the injury against the Jags. Sure, Pearsall being ruled out the following game on a short week for Thursday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams made sense. But, after missing yet another bout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the lack of a conclusive timeline is rather concerning.
And not being a participant in practice to start the week ahead of Week 7's Sunday Night Football clash with the Atlanta Falcons isn't exactly a great sign either.
Lynch's comments, while hopeful, didn't exactly provide an imminent resolution either.