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49ers' Jauan Jennings gets new contract incentives, will play in Sunday's opener

Cam Inman, The Mercury News on

Published in Football

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Wide receiver Jauan Jennings will play in the 49ers’ season opener Sunday, even though he’s being limited in practice after a five-week hiatus, coach Kyle Shanahan said.

“Having all that time off, we’ve got to ease him in and stuff, so we’ll see how this week goes,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “But he’s healthy enough to play football and hopefully that continues.”

Jennings can earn an additional $3 million in playtime incentives this season in a revised deal, agent Drew Rosenhaus confirmed Wednesday night.

Jennings’ contract is still set to expire after this season, with him slated to earn a $1.17 million base salary after a $5.6 million option bonus in April, as part of a two-year, $15.4 million extension in May 2024.

He has yet to speak to the media on his absence, as for how much was related to a calf issue or if it is more related to a contract dispute. He last spoke publicly after last season’s finale in Arizona, from which he got baited into an ejection by a Cardinals player.

Jennings hugged Shanahan and general manager John Lynch upon Monday’s practice return, and Shanahan said there’s no ill will after Jennings’ boycott failed to yield a pay raise.

“That was never personal. It’s business. And that’s a tough thing about this,” Shanahan said. “I want every player to make as much money as possible. I want every coach. I want everybody to. It’s just hard in situations to always do that.”

Meanwhile, the 49ers’ patchwork receiving corps continues to shuffle. Marquez Valdes-Scantling got promoted to the 53-man roster while Russell Gage replaced him on the practice squad. Both have a good shot to be among the five receivers suiting up Sunday. Jordan Watkins (ankle) has remained out of practice since the preseason opener.

Lenoir becomes a captain

Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir is a first-time captain, filling the eighth spot among the captain corps that got vacated by wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s trade to Washington. The other seven captains are the same as last season: George Kittle, Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams and Kyle Juszczyk.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” Lenoir said. “This is something I dreamed of when I was a kid. I never thought it would come so fast, but we’re here, and I’m blessed to be here, blessed to be a captain. I’m happy my teammates view me that way.”

In May, Lenoir won the Dwight Clark Award, which honors the current 49ers player who best exemplifies the late wide receiver’s “spirit of teamwork and camaraderie.” Warner said of Lenoir’s captainship: “Happy for him, excited for him. He earned it fully. Obviously, it shows how much his teammates respect him and are ready for him to lead the way.”

Old o-line

The 49ers are poised to start the NFL’s oldest offensive line at an average age of 30 years old: Trent Williams (37), Ben Bartch (27), Jake Brendel (32), Dominick Puni (25) and Colton McKivitz (29).

“We’re veteran players who play well together. We’ve started three consecutive seasons together,” McKivitz said. “They like having guys out there who mentally are sharp in what we’re doing. That’s why Jake gets the nod, because he’s extremely smart and a good football player.

“Yeah, we might be old, and we might be ‘Trent Williams and four other dudes’ but, you know, we’re doing alright. We joke about that in the huddle quite a bit.”

 

McKivitz, by the way, is entering his contract year, too, and says “nothing crazy” is going on with a potential extension, though he says there is a mutual desire to hatch a long-term deal, and Shanahan echoed that.

Practice report

Trent Williams, after a rigorous camp, did not practice and rested on Wednesday, as has been his regular-season routine. Puni remains limited from a posterior cruciate ligament injury in the Aug. 16 preseason game at Las Vegas.

Running back Jordan James (finger) was limited, and defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) did not practice. The first injury report of the year clarified injuries to defensive linemen Bryce Huff (ankle) and Kalia Davis (groin), who both were full participants.

Youth challenge

Shanahan said “it’s possible” the 49ers’ greatest challenge this year is their influx of young defenders, the chief of whom is first-round pick Mykel Williams. “He’s hopping in, getting all the reps and just keeps getting better the more reps he gets,” Shanahan said of Williams, a versatile defensive lineman.

Shanahan noted that veterans have stepped up in recent weeks, so the vast rookie group may not have to play right away.

Although the starting safeties are set, Shanahan would not confirm if Ji’Ayir Brown will start next to Jason Pinnock as their depth chart reflected Tuesday. Rookie Marques Sigle started each preseason game. Shanahan said of Brown: “I love Ji’Ayir. … The more Tig’ is out there, the better he gets, the more consistent he gets. But it’s just been up and down with injuries.”

Thoughts on Seattle

Former 49ers assistant Klint Kubiak is the Seahawks’ first-year offensive coordinator and Shanahan recognizes the scheme.

“They’ll be a balanced team that wants to put Sam (Darnold) in good situations, give the ball to their running backs and it comes down to third downs,” Shanahan said. “It’s a different style run game. It’s similar to ours in what they do.”

Seattle’s notorious noise hasn’t deterred the 49ers from winning Brock Purdy’s first three starts.

“I know to win in Seattle with how loud it is, you have to be on the cadence and on the noise and all that stuff,” Shanahan added. “That’s the first way to lose a game when you go up there. I’ve done that plenty of times, not just here, but other places when I’ve gone there in my career.”

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