As depressing as it is to ponder a legendary faceplant by the 49ers Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, consider how bad it would be if they hadn’t ponied up and signed their best receiver.
We’re not talking about Brandon Aiyuk, who caught five passes for 48 yards and signed a four-year contract worth $30 million per season in the days leading up to the season.
The guy that mattered the most was Jauan Jennings, the former “Third-and-Jauan” who was a man for all downs with Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey sidelined. Jennings had career highs with 11 receptions, 175 yards and three touchdowns.
Jennings and quarterback Brock Purdy (22 of 30, 292 yards, three touchdowns) carried the 49ers’ passing game and both did enough to win. Instead, Purdy was standing at the postgame podium explaining the 49ers’ second consecutive loss and Jennings escaped the locker room without talking to reporters after the game of his life.
In the offseason, Jennings, a 2022 seventh-round draft pick, was a restricted free agent and the 49ers gave him a two-year contract worth $15 million overall with $8.4 million guaranteed.
“Jauan was unbelievable,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I think the numbers show it, but more than the numbers, he was a warrior the whole game. He’s always like that, but got a lot of opportunities today and was automatic on every single one.”
Jennings had touchdown receptions of 13 yards, 4 yards and 31 yards from Purdy, the last one giving the 49ers a 21-7 lead with 7:01 remaining.
His first touchdown came on a wide-open play where Aiyuk drew coverage toward him.
Word on the street: He’s still running pic.twitter.com/Xoiv2qOIGL
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“It started with B.A. backside, and J.J. sort of bluffed like he was blocking and slipped up the seam,” Purdy said. “He was my second read and he was wide open. Great play call.”
Jennings did his most impressive work when he wasn’t all by his lonesome. He somehow stole a ball from Quintin Lake for a 32-yard gain that helped set up the field goal that put the 49ers up 24-13 with 11:57 left.
He made at least two receptions where he was surrounded by three defenders, with Shanahan saying afterwards he wondered about the wisdom of even throwing him the ball.
“Even on some bad looks, when I didn’t know if the ball should go there, you quickly saw afterward they weren’t going to take the ball away from Jauan,” Shanahan said. “He was very inspiring today with the way he played.”
He told us he had these hands covered
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According to Associated Press stats maven Josh Dubow, only three 49ers receivers have ever had a game with 10 or more catches, 175 or more yards and three or more touchdowns. The other two — Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens — are in the Hall of Fame.
Jennings caught his career-high 11 passes on 12 targets. His previous career highs were also at SoFi Stadium as a rookie in the 2021 regular-season finale: Six catches for 94 yards with two scores, a 24-yard pass from Jimmy Garoppolo and a 14-yarder on a reverse from Samuel.
The 49ers celebrated that day, winning 27-24 in overtime to clinch a playoff berth.
It was the reverse of last season’s Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs, when Jennings looked as if he could be the Most Valuable Player as the former Tennessee quarterback threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey and caught a 10-yard pass from Purdy for a 16-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. The 49ers, of course, lost 25-22 in overtime.
“I absolutely love Jauan,” Purdy said. “Just the way he comes in and sparks energy and his love for the game, you can feel it. You can see it. I’ll go to war with him every day of the week.”
As for Aiyuk, he now has 10 receptions for 119 yards with no touchdowns in three games. It’s also worth noting he has never had a game where he caught 11 passes. Never had a game where he scored three touchdowns. Never had a game with 175 yards receiving.
That’s not to say Aiyuk had zero impact against the Rams, because with Samuel, Kittle and McCaffrey all missing, he was surely a focal point of the Rams defense on more plays than just Jennings’ first touchdown. He was targeted 10 times, just one fewer than Jennings.
Purdy said he simply went where the reads and progressions took him against the Rams, and where it took him rather than zeroing in on a specific receiver.
“I just think it comes with the opportunities you get in games with looks,” Purdy said. “It’s not so I’m dropping back and saying, ‘We’re not ready yet, I’m not going to get him the ball.’ It has nothing to do with that. It’s, ‘What’s my read? Is it the right look here with B.A.?’ We’re scheming stuff up to give him a great position to win and get him the ball, but defenses are doing a good job of scheming some stuff, they get me off my reads and I go to other guys.
“We’re going to continue to work so we can get on the same page. I absolutely love B.A. He’s working really hard right now and I can tell you we’re going to continue to grow together.”
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As if you need further evidence of the kind of leader Purdy is, consider how he handled a drop with 1:08 to play by second-year receiver Ronnie Bell that could have set the 49ers up for a game-winning field goal.
“I don’t know if I had enough juice on it from where I was at in the pocket,” Purdy said. “Just trying to give him a chance. Obviously I could give him a better ball and everything. He’s a young guy, I love him. We’ve all got Ronnie’s back, so we’re going to continue to need him and build him up and we’re all in this together. It’s a team sport. It’s not one play or player.”
Not usually anyway, although for a long time Sunday it looked like the player who made the biggest difference was Jauan Jennings.