Niners Nation
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch said the team has a theory, thanks to sports science, about “building a mountain that gets you calloused and ready to play football.” Sure, the Niners could do walkthroughs all the way up to Week 1 to ensure everybody was healthy, but this is also a team that intends to play a bunch of young players, and the only way for those players to improve is by playing football.
Lynch said competition is the primary way to get better, so the 49ers have been trying to balance how to get better while making sure they stay healthy.
Lynch had injury updates during an appearance on KNBR for some key players, starting with Jauan Jennings.
“Jauan’s working with our health and performance staff, trying to get back out on the field. Jauan got his calf in the offseason, strained it, and calves can kind of linger, unfortunately. He came out, practiced some, he wasn’t feeling great, so we kinda put him off to the side. But Jauan’s working hard like he always does. We don’t have any timetable, but we’re looking forward to seeing JJ out there on the field. He’s such a big part of who we are and what we wanna be. We’re eager to get him back, but won’t do it until he’s ready.”
Lynch also spoke about where Brandon Aiyuk was in his rehab process:
“There are just steps that you have to continue to hit. I’ll continue to say that Brandon is doing very well in his rehab. Do we have an exact date? No. I don’t think it’ll be Week 1, but hopefully, I’m surprised. We’ll see. Continuing trying to watch him work his way through this rehab. Again, we want him fully healthy. He had a significant injury, and you have to do a significant rehab.”
So, Jennings’s status is to be determined. There shouldn’t be a rush to get him back onto the field. If anything, Jennings’ absence allows the plethora of new receivers to get much-needed reps and prove to the coaching staff whether they warrant a roster spot.
As for Aiyuk, Week 1 was always a long shot. It’ll be interesting to see if the 49ers keep a roster spot open and leave the door cracked for Aiyuk to return within the first four weeks. The other option would be to think big picture and place Aiyuk on the PUP list, where he’d return no sooner than Week 5.
