One Massive Concern the 49ers Should Have With Jauan Jennings Back

There's a massive concern the 49ers must be having with Jauan Jennings as they begin the regular season.

Oct 10, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) runs for yards after the catch against Seattle Seahawks cornerback Tre Brown (22) during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Jauan Jennings is back practicing with the San Francisco 49ers after being out for the last month with a calf injury.

Although it's most likely that Jennings was conducting a holdout since he desires a contract extension. As of now, it's unclear if the 49ers gave Jennings a pay raise to get him to return.

In any case, Jennings has been gone a long time. Because of that, there's one massive concern the 49ers should have with him now that he's back.

One Massive Concern With Jauan Jennings Back

Jan 5, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) reacts in the first half prior to being ejected from the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The concern is how he will look to start the season. Every time a player has held out and missed the majority of training camp with the 49ers, they've started the season sluggishly.

It happened with Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Trent Williams. It wasn't noticeable with Williams, but he has cited that jumping into the season with no training camp was rough.

That is exactly what Jennings is doing. For Bosa, it took him a little after midseason to hit his stride after his holdout. For Samuel he could never find his rhythm in 2022.

With Aiyuk, he didn't have a big numbers game until Week 5 and wasn't standing out before that either. Missing training camp does a lot of harm to players.

It's never mattered how elite a player is. Training camp is vital for players so that they don't use precious regular-season games to get themselves up to speed.

Jennings will be up against it and is more likely than not to struggle in Week 1 versus the Seattle Seahawks. If he doesn't play well, how long will it take for him to get back to his normal level?

Sep 29, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) stretches out for a catch against New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25) during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Another possibility to consider is the injury factor. Jennings might end up reinjuring his calf that he has been nursing.

Even if he was milking the injury in search of a contract extension, there's probably some semblance of it being hurt. He can aggravate it in Seattle or Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints.

Or, he could injure something new altogether. Jennings is entering a challenging scenario that could've been avoided if he had returned to practice earlier.

Getting in just one week's worth of practice is hardly sufficient. It's been shown time and time again that practice is pivotal.

For a player playing on the final year of his deal, Jennings didn't make the right decision. He will potentially hurt his stock entering free agency if he gets hurt or takes a while to regain his form.

The first steps toward clarity being gained take place this Sunday when the 2025 regular season begins.

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