With all the injuries the San Francisco 49ers are dealing with, the team has needed someone to step up and fill some of those voids. One wide receiver did so in Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Jauan Jennings had 11 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns. He was just about unstoppable as he had the type of game 49ers fans used to see from Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens.
Greg Papa, the radio voice of the 49ers, sat down with head coach Kyle Shanahan on NBC Sports Bay Area's "49ers Game Plan" on Friday. Among the topics they discussed was Jennings' performance. Papa asked Shanahan how Jennings continues to get open and create separation, despite his lack of straight-line speed.
"He's been probably our best separator here over the last few years," Shanahan said. "He goes so hard. The way he comes off the ball, when he hits contact, he doesn't slow down at all. If someone's holding him, you never see him act like he's getting grabbed. He fights through everything. The way he blocks is the way he runs routes. It's just a mindset that he has, that no one can stop him.
"When you have that mindset, when you have some size, some sneaky strength, and yeah, he may not have the fastest times and test the fastest, but I just don't think he's a good tester. He didn't jump the highest at the combine, but the guy can do a 360 dunk. So, it's kind of an anomaly, but the guy is wired the right way, and he's always had the mentality to play football. And he got a lot more opportunities in this game with Deebo [Samuel] being out and he'd tell you that he'd do that every week if he just gets more opportunities, and I don't think he's wrong."
Papa talked about Jennings' long arms and 6'3 frame, and how he has a great deal of success with contested catches. Papa noted that of Jennings' 11 catches in Sunday's game, five were deemed as contested. He asked Shanahan what he thought of the catch Jennings made when he reached over the Rams safety to make a highlight reel grab, in particular, QB Brock Purdy's decision to throw that ball to Jennings, who was tightly covered.
"Yeah, that one, if you told me it was that coverage, usually in that coverage, there's a person sitting right there," Shanahan added. "So a three-level throw, so it should go to the top level or the bottom level, but not the middle level. So when he let it go, I was a little bit nervous and I quickly forgot about it. It was a hell of a read because anytime you throw it and they make the play, we keep it moving and go to the next, so it was a big-time play by him. I'm glad Brock gave him that opportunity."
Jennings has stepped up whenever he's received the opportunity. The player fans called, "Third and Jauan," because of his knack for converting third downs to first downs, has become an all-around threat for the 49ers. With TE George Kittle returning this week against the New England Patriots, and with Samuel potentially returning, as well, Jennings may not be needed to repeat his performance from last Sunday. But when those chances come, Jennings has the mindset to come up big for his team.
You can watch the entire interview by clicking the video below.
