The San Francisco 49ers may be without Jauan Jennings if his shoulder injury is serious. Last week, Kendrick Bourne visited the Niners and the Washington Commanders, but planned on waiting a week to make his decision. On Sunday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team had been working on a deal with Bourne, and he was hopeful they could come to an agreement.
Bourne has made his decision. Bourne is returning to the 49ers on a one-year deal with a max value of $5 million, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Bourne was wise to wait a week. To say the 49ers will be shorthanded at receiver is an understatement if Jennings misses time.
We can tell by how the other wideouts were used that there isn’t trust in the non-Pearsall/Jennings players. Here’s a look at the routes run yesterday:
Ricky Pearsall: 32
Christian McCaffrey: 25
Jauan Jennings: 23
Russell Gage: 17
Marquez Valdez-Scantling: 15
Jake Tonges: 15
Kyle Juszczyk: 14
Luke Farrell: 13
George Kittle: 11
Brian Robinson: 7
Skyy Moore: 1
Shanahan also said there’s a chance that rookie Jordan Watkins could make his debut in Week 2. Gage was targeted once, but that came on a play where the Seahawks hit Brock Purdy, so his target was negated. Outside of that, Gage and Valdez-Scantling didn’t see a target.
It was a no-brainer for Bourne to sign the day after Jennings and Kittle will need MRIs to determine how much time or if they’ll miss any time.
