SANTA CLARA — Jauan Jennings’ hip injury clearly is worse than the 49ers have let on.
Jennings will miss his second game in a row this Sunday night when the 49ers take on the Dallas Cowboys. He already is listed as out because he missed all three days of practice this week. He was too injured even to jog on the side field with the other injured players.
After practice, I asked head coach Kyle Shanahan if Jennings has a hip pointer. Shanahan said, “No,” and left it at that. Which means he won’t say what exactly the injury is.
Yikes.
Fortunately for Jennings, he’ll have a Bye week after the Cowboys game to rest and recover and hopefully play Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’s possible that’s the 49ers’ plan for him. Or it’s possible he’s out for the season. Considering how often the 49ers have reported incorrect or incomplete injury information, nothing would surprise me.
Losing Jennings is a significant blow to the 49ers’ offense considering he’s their leading receiver this season. Teams have adjusted to take away the 49ers’ yards after the catch, so they need a receiver who excels at making contested catches, and that’s Jennings. He’s the best contested-catch receiver on the team. When Purdy throws Jennings a 50-50 ball, the odds are in Jennings’ favor that he’ll come down with the ball.
Without Jennings, the 49ers will have to rely more on rookies Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing.
And they still should beat the Cowboys regardless.
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