Your daily San Francisco 49ers links for Monday, August 16, 2021
Kyle Shanahan was happy with the performances from Jauan Jennings and Nsimba Webster. Of Webster, Shanahan said, “He started it off with that kick return, then followed up by a reverse, I was just happy how well he ran the ball. Game didn’t look too big for him. He looked like he enjoyed the physicality of the game and definitely got himself a chance to be in the mix.”
“We possibly could look into it but it’s going to get a lot harder now with this new rule of having to go to 85 tomorrow,” Shanahan said Sunday via conference call. “Sounds great if you’re playing with 85 people but you’re not. It depends where we are with other positions.
“We still have four healthy guys who can go, so if we rotate them the right way we can still take care to them. But it gives you no room if one of those guys gets hurt or one of those guys is tight and you want to take care of them.”
Physical Jauan Jennings makes most of playing time at 49ers’ fuzziest position
Jennings played more snaps, 38, than any other 49ers pass catcher. That’s because he spent 10 days at the start of training camp on the reserve/COVID-19 list and Kyle Shanahan and staff want as much film on him as possible before making the final roster decision. Shanahan on Sunday said he liked what he saw from the 6-foot-3 wideout, including how he operated as a blocker.
“He’s a physical guy who loves to play football, and I wanted to see it transfer over to the game,” Shanahan said. “If you watched him in the running game — he really got after it, the maximum effort every play, how he dug out those safeties on blocks, how he was blocking on the backside (against) the corners. And when he got the opportunities when the ball was thrown to him he came through.”
49ers’ young secondary flashed potential in preseason opener
“I know they got beat a couple times, but I also saw them playing some tight coverage and not giving up,” Shanahan said. “They got a lot of reps out there and never seemed to tire out, but I know they tired out.
“They played their hardest and as much tape as you can get with those rookies the better and I think DeMeco put them in a lot of man situations which is what we wanted to see. Now we can grade the tape and see how they can get better.”
4. Running back JaMycal Hasty.
Finished with 10 carries for 63 yards, one touchdown and one fumble. The fumble was bad, but fumblitis is correctable — Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. cured their fumbilitis. Hasty can as well. He currently is the second-most explosive back on the roster after Mostert, and should make the team.
6. Wide receiver Jauan Jennings.
Had 49 total yards in the game, and showed good hand-eye coordination and the ability to run through tackles after the catch. He just might make the team over Richie James Jr., who can’t catch anything. More on James below.
Richie James: James had no catches, and only averaged 17.5 yards per kick return. That’s not good. James has the talent to be the number three receiver, but he just doesn’t step up. He may not make this team. James has been a big disappointment so far.
Travis Benjamin: Benjamin was probably the worst (non-right guard) on the field last night. He was absolutely awful. Benjamin had numerous opportunities; passes thrown his way, returns, etc. He did nothing. Zero catches. Only six punt return yards. I predicted that he would step up big this season. He’s proving me wrong. Thanks a lot, Travis.