Jauan Jennings stands out at 49ers camp, but another receiver leaves with hamstring injury

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The receiver position was the center of attention for the San Francisco 49ers at their first training camp practice with Jauan Jennings leading the way in practice despite his desire for a new contract and Jacob Cowing leaving early with a hamstring injury.

A year after Brandon Aiyuk skipped all of training camp practice as a contract “hold in,” Jennings opted to go a different route this year as he seeks a new deal to replace the final season of a two-year, $15.4 million contract he signed in 2024.

Jennings gave a warm greeting to coach Kyle Shanahan at the start of practice and led the way in drills, catching three passes in a team session.

“You want everyone out there on the field, especially some of your better players,” Shanahan said. “Jauan has been a hell of a player for us here for a while. One of our leaders too. He had a good practice and it was great to have him out there.”

The 2020 seventh-round pick has emerged as one of quarterback Brock Purdy’s most trusted options at wide receiver after having 77 catches for 975 yards and six TDs last season. With Deebo Samuel having been traded to Washington in March and Aiyuk working back from a knee injury, Jennings is expected to have a big role this season.

Jennings has appeared to be in a good mood to start camp and is not letting the contract dispute interfere with that.

“Jauan was awesome today,” teammate George Kittle said. “Great energy in the locker room yesterday. Great energy today. His normal self. I just appreciate him attacking it like there’s nothing going on.”

Cowing didn’t have as good a start to camp after being one of the team’s top performers in the offseason program. Cowing hurt his hamstring early in practice running a route and will likely miss some time.

Shanahan said he didn’t know the extent of the injury. Cowing missed time in training camp last summer with a hamstring injury.

“Hopefully, that’s better news than what we’re guessing out there, and he can get back, and get back to what he was doing in OTAs,” Shanahan said.

Cowing struggled to get on the field last season as a fourth-round rookie, recording only four catches on 106 offensive snaps. San Francisco is counting on him taking a bigger role this season.

New-look fields

The biggest notable change for the Niners was the layout of the practice field. The team re-oriented the fields this summer to run from east to west instead of north and south.

That allows San Francisco to have one full field that runs 165 yards with another shorter field.

“It’s a work in progress,” Shanahan said. “Today was my first time out there with that field, so it was the first time it was different for me in nine years, so I felt nauseous out there. I was dizzy the whole time. We’re creatures of habit. I’ve stood in the same place all the time. I didn’t know where to go today. But we’ll get used to it.”

Kicking competition

The Niners have a kicking competition this summer with Greg Joseph brought in to challenge incumbent Jake Moody

Moody, a third-round pick in 2023, went 24 for 34 on field goals lats season and was just 5 for 14 from at least 40 yards in his final nine games after coming back from an ankle injury.

Joseph has made 82.3% of his career field goals since entering the league in 2018.

Both kickers got a chance on day one with each making all four field-goal attempts in a competition that has drawn attention from other Niners players.

“I actually am paying attention,” star defensive end Nick Bosa said. “I can’t lie.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer