Like many others, Deebo Samuel was impressed with 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings’ 2024 NFL season.
That’s why Samuel pre-bought Jennings a congratulatory gift for when Jennings reached his first 1,000-yard season of his pro career, which was anticipated to happen in San Francisco’s season finale versus the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday.
But that milestone fell just 25 yards shy when Jennings was ejected from the game after getting into back-to-back scuffles with Cardinals cornerbacks.
Still, that didn’t take away from how proud Samuel was of Jennings, or his plan to surprise him with a present.
“I’m very impressed,” Samuel told reporters Monday. “I had got him a gift for him to hit 1,000 yards. That didn’t happen, but I still gave it to him on the plane. Overall, Jauan had an outstanding season for sure.”
Jennings finished the season with 77 catches for 975 yards and six touchdowns, stepping up in a major way as several 49ers playmakers were out with injuries.
“That’s him. That’s how he comes to work,” Samuel said of Jennings’ relentless character. “That’s how he is at practice and camp. It’s just a standard that he plays with. Every single time he’s out there, he just gives it everything he got.”
Jennings admitted “it hurts a lot” to not reach that feat in his career, especially because he believes he was unfairly tossed from the game.
The first incident occurred when Jennings pancaked Cardinals cornerback Starling Thomas and the two got tangled up. The scuffle resulted in offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties.
On the very next play, Jennings and Cardinals cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting also got into it, again resulting in offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties and both players being ejected.
Jauan Jennings was ejected from the game after a scuffle with Cardinals CB Sean Murphy-Bunting pic.twitter.com/clCgiyeD4n
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) January 5, 2025
Jennings, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and Samuel all didn’t agree with the ejection, with Samuel even making his case to the official.
“That’s just Jauan,” Samuel said. “I don’t think he did anything dirty. If you turn on the tape, that’s just how he blocks. You block until you hear the whistle. And I was explaining to the ref like, ‘Yo, if I was dogging you, you would get mad and start swinging punches right?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ And I was like, ‘Well, then that didn’t make sense for you to throw the flag.’
“But at the end of the day, it’s the game within the game. Jauan’s just being Jauan. Nothing dirty in my eyes.”
While Jennings fell just short of an incredible mark in his career, his 2024 campaign surely is only a sign of what’s to come for the rising wideout.
