Shanahan Highlights Jennings’ Effort and Adaptability in 49ers Role Change

The San Francisco 49ers cruised to a 38-13 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon, bringing a much-needed halt to what became an awful three-game losing streak that left the Niners sitting in the basement of the NFC West.

Such a brutal state of affairs has certainly felt like unfamiliar territory for head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co., division winners over the last two seasons and three of the last five.

But much to the delight of anyone hoping to witness a 180-degree flip of a performance from the much-depleted 49ers roster, the team went ahead and did just that.

Led by an extremely efficient Brock Purdy (20-for-25, 325 yards, 2 TDs)—an effort that wisely leaned heavily on the third-year quarterback’s most physical offensive weapons—tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Jauan Jennings thrived for a combined 13 catches and 241 yards to pair with the aforementioned two touchdown passes.

When Shanahan was specifically asked about Jennings and his progression at split end (also known as the X-receiver position formerly owned by Brandon Aiyuk) his response kind of mirrored how a healthy portion of the 49ers’ fanbase have felt about the receiver’s aggressive approach for some time now, despite “JJ” not exactly being an intensely featured element of the Niners’ overall offensive game plan.

“Just lining up in some different spots,” Shanahan explained. “It’s different verbiage and everything. He’s [Jennings] listening to certain words and stuff that tell him to do things and where to line up and everything, for his whole time here. And then when you move to a position he has never played before, it’s just completely different verbiage and stuff on how to get him lined up, some of the spots in the field he’s at. But Jauan just, he does it like he does everything. Jauan goes as hard as he can in every single situation.”

The way Shanahan continued to describe Jennings and his innate ability to adjust, more or less sums it up.

“Doesn’t matter whether the ball is in his hands,” Shanahan said. “He’s running around or he’s blocking, doesn’t matter whether it’s a deep throw, an underneath throw in practice or in games. Jauan is always just going a 100 miles an hour and playing as physical as he can.”

In just a few brief sentences, the 49ers head coach aptly summarized the selfless, seemingly tireless effort that has made Jennings and his unmistakable energy—when healthy—so incredibly valuable to the offense whenever called upon, regardless of specified position on the field.

With the noticeable absence of injured All-Pro Aiyuk, the fourth-year pro out of Tennessee has done an outstanding job of filling those cleats, hauling in six touchdown catches, well on his way to eclipsing his TD tally over his first three NFL seasons combined.

Given the short week ahead and with the 49ers (now 6-7) hosting a truly pivotal game against the 7-6 Los Angeles Rams on Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football,” one has to figure Shanahan’s offensive approach—at least when it comes to the passing game—won’t be straying too far from feeding Jennings and Kittle, early and often.

Keep in mind, Jennings delivered his statement-making game of the season against these very Rams in Week 3, putting on a patently ridiculous 11-catch performance that went for 175 yards and three touchdowns.