Two days after Kyle Shanahan said wide receiver Dante Pettis was “still trying to earn a role on this team,” the 49ers head coach clarified for those who might have misinterpreted: The 2018 second-round pick isn’t fighting for a roster spot.

“I know a lot has been said about the quote that I had on him,” Shanahan said. “Dante’s not in jeopardy of not making our team or anything. We’re still trying to find out a role for him. And when you have a guy like Dante it can be a compliment to him, too. He’s a guy that’s capable of having any role on this team.

“He can be our best player on this team. He can be our best punt returner. He can be our No. 1 receiver, our No. 2 receiver, our slot receiver, or just a role receiver. He has the ability to do all of that. And he’s shown that he can do all of that, but he hasn’t shown it consistently enough so that we know exactly where to put him. So that’s really what I was trying to (say) there.”

Shanahan has consistently offered pointed public critiques of Pettis this summer. On Saturday, in a preseason win at Kansas City, he played Pettis the fourth quarter with a host of roster longshots. The 49ers traded a third-round pick to move up 15 spots to select Pettis at No. 44 overall last year.

“I have been hard on Dante,” Shanahan said. “But if anyone knows me, I am the hardest on people that I believe in. And I do believe in him a lot. And I’m always going to be probably a little disappointed because I think he can be very good. And it’s important to our team that he is.”

Twitter: @Eric_Branch