When the 49ers traded Deebo Samuel to Washington in the offseason, they did so with the confidence they were stocked well enough to win without him.
With one preseason game remaining, San Francisco is once again learning how fickle player health can be in the NFL. The 49ers are currently without Brandon Aiyuk -- who they knew wouldn't be ready for the start of the regular season as he returns from an ACL injury -- veteran Jauan Jennings (calf), Jordan Watkins (ankle), Jacob Cowing (undisclosed tweak of "something"), Malik Turner (undisclosed) and Demarcus Robinson, who is healthy but is expected to be suspended for the first three games of the season, pending appeal.
"I think it's just definitely not normal," second-year receiver Ricky Pearsall said on Thursday. "It's definitely different and we all know that. But that's OK. It's not always going to be the same. Life's full of adversity, life's full of different changes; it's just about how you react and what you're going to do from that.
"We could sit there and be like 'OK, we're short on numbers. We're thin.' And we can complain about it or we can put our heads down and go to work."
The 49ers have been snake-bitten by injuries in years past, but this is bordering on excessive, so much that San Francisco swung a deal for Skyy Moore in a trade with the Chiefs this week. Even that addition doesn't make everything all right.
As things currently stand, Pearsall is the 49ers' top healthy wideout. Veterans Robbie Chosen and Russell Gage are also on the roster, though Gage recently suffered a knee injury in practice. Fortunately, Gage is expected to be ready for Week 1's game against the Seahawks on Sept. 7, according to general manager John Lynch.
Still, the 49ers have plenty of reason to look up toward the sky and ask "why us?" Not Pearsall, though; he's staying positive amid the adversity.
"Perspective is a big thing, especially in my life," he said. "It's about the way you look at it, I think. It's a blessing to have all the guys that we do have in there right now and we're ready to roll."
On the bright side, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle have managed to stay healthy in camp and the 49ers have newly paid quarterback Brock Purdy primed for the new season. Hopefully they'll have a good enough cast of pass-catchers for him to target in Week 1.