San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings made it clear on Sunday afternoon that he felt officials were in the wrong when they decided to eject him for fighting with cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting during the second quarter of his team's 47-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Jennings and Murphy-Bunting were ejected after an altercation that followed a physical block from Jennings on a running play. It was the second consecutive play where Jennings was flagged for unnecessary roughness after having a similar scuffle with cornerback Starling Thomas on the previous play.
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Officials decided they had seen enough after the fight with Murphy-Bunting to send Jennings to the locker room. The ejection was particularly unfortunate for Jennings, who left the game just 25 yards short of his first 1,000-yard season as an NFL receiver. But while Jennings wishes he would have been able to reach the 1,000-yard mark, he told reporters he had no second thoughts about his physical play against the Cardinals' cornerbacks.
"They threw me out. I think it was a mistake," Jennings told reporters after the game. "Humans make those, so no regrets."
Even though Jennings was flagged and ejected for what happened with Murphy-Bunting, he told reporters he felt there was nothing out of the ordinary with what he did on the play. Jennings' account of the play suggested he thought Murphy-Bunting was more of an aggressor than him.
"Just a normal pancake in the book of football," Jennings said. "Took him to the ground and I tried to get up, and he wouldn't let me get up. He just kept grabbing my jersey, grabbing my face mask as much as he could -- anything to grab me and I was just trying to get him off me."
Jennings added that officials didn't explain to him exactly what they felt he did to warrant an ejection from the game.
"Nothing. No explanation of anything," Jennings said. "Just 'You're out.'
The 49ers went into Sunday's game well aware of how close Jennings was to the 1,000-yard mark and were making a clear effort to get him there, having sent seven completions his way in the first half for 52 yards. Jennings seemed likely to pass the mark at some point during the game, but now he'll have to hope for another opportunity in the future.
"It hurts a lot," Jennings said. "I believe everything happens for a reason. Give me another chance -- there's a first time for everything, so next year."
49ers quarterback Joshua Dobbs had extra motivation to see Jennings reach 1,000 yards because the two played together in college at the University of Tennessee. Like Jennings, Dobbs, who started the game in place of the injured Brock Purdy, didn't understand why officials decided to throw the wide receiver out of the game.
"I thought it was very frustrating, without a doubt," Dobbs said. "I mean, Jauan's just being Jauan, quite frankly. And if you look back at those two plays, like their guys taking off his helmet and Jauan gets a flag -- no clue how that happens. And then the second play, Juwan's getting stomped out on the sideline and they throw a flag on him and eject him when he's just playing football. So it was pretty frustrating, especially knowing how much it meant for Jauan to be out there, to play hard, be himself playing the game, and then obviously get to the milestone of 1,000. It was frustrating to see him go out."
Regardless of how it ended, Jennings' 2024 performance was one of the few bright spots amid a season full of disappointment for the 49ers. Jennings stepped up after the team lost starting wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk to a torn ACL and proved he was capable of being a reliable primary target by catching 77 passes for 975 yards and six touchdowns. He solidified himself throughout the season as someone who will be a significant factor in the 49ers' offense going forward, so he may well find himself in a position to reach the 1,000-yard mark sooner rather than later. But for now, Jennings will head into the offseason in a way he wasn't expecting, while continuing to believe he should have gotten the chance to reach 1,000 yards on Sunday.
"I knew I was in the right," Jennings said. "I put my hopes into another human being making the right choice. Humans make mistakes."