The San Francisco 49ers are having a bonus practice on Labor Day as they prepare for Week 1. According to reporters at practice, starting left guard Dominick Puni, edge rusher Yetur Gross-Matos, defensive tackle Kalia Davis, and wide receiver Russell Gage were all back at practice.
The big news, on the day the Niners are hosting free agent wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, is that Jauan Jennings is back at practice:
Jennings re-aggravated the same calf that
bothered him during the offseason. That was August 7. At the time, general manager John Lynch said calf injuries tend to linger.
Nearly a month later, where a trade request presumably happened after neither side had been able to agree to a contract extension, Jennings is back in action.
It’s understandable why fans would be frustrated with Jennings, but minimizing his importance to the 49ers, given their current state of the wide receiver situation, feels wrong.
Jordan Watkins remains out. That means, outside of Ricky Pearsall, Brock Purdy’s wideouts would be Gage and Skyy Moore. Needless to say, Jennings could help the 49ers’ offense just as much as last year, if not more, during these first couple of weeks with Demarcus Robinson sidelined.
The Athletic’s Matt Barrows tweeted that there has been no deal struck at this time between the 49ers and Jennings.
