Jauan Jennings resumed practice seven weeks after his contract dispute became public and 36 days after a calf injury removed him from practice. Confidence in his ability to contribute in Week 1 against the Seahawks is low given limited practice reps and the absence of full conditioning. Two additional practices before Week 2 are unlikely to restore his previous form. Prior holdouts for key 49ers players cost timing and early-season performance, with examples including Brandon Aiyuk, Nick Bosa and Trent Williams suffering clear declines after summer absences. Little tangible progress occurred during the standoff, and team readiness suffered.
So much for that calf injury. So much for that contract negotiation. Jauan Jennings was back at work on Monday, seven weeks to the day his contract dispute became public and 36 days after a calf injury took him off the practice field. And while I'm sure both the 49ers and the wide receiver will play this unnecessary and unbecoming summer saga off like it was no big deal, the truth is that nothing was accomplished, and plenty was lost over these last few weeks.
Jennings' ability to help the Niners in the team's Week 1 division game with the Seahawks three practices away as of Monday morning should be viewed with deep skepticism. There's simply no reason to believe he'll be anywhere near full speed for that contest and it's not as if Jennings is the kind of player who has a step to spare. Will two more practices ahead of Week 2 (Fridays are walk-through days) five total be enough to return Jennings to the form he showed last season?
We saw what a hold-in and it's undeniable now that's what Jennings' last few weeks were did to Brandon Aiyuk, a bonafide No. 1, 1,000-yard receiver last season. Without training camp, he looked a step slow and out of the loop in a 49ers' offense where timing is everything. He didn't look like a $30 million player until Week 5. Two weeks later, his season was over. Nick Bosa was a shell of his All-Pro self for the first month-plus of the 2023 season following a 44-day summer holdout he only had 2.5 sacks in the first seven games of that season.
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