49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan reveals the real reason behind Jauan Jennings' absence from practice amid contract uncertainty

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings hasn't practiced over the last week and he wants a new contract.

On the surface, it would appear that Jennings, a former Tennessee Vols star, is sitting out of practice until his contract situation is resolved (Jennings is in the final year of his deal with the 49ers). That’s the usual move for an NFL player in training camp looking to land a new contract.

But according to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, that's not the case with Jennings.

Shanahan told reporters over the weekend that Jennings is dealing with a legitimate calf injury.

"No, not at all," said Shanahan when asked if Jennings' absence is related to his contract situation. "And this is actually why Jauan missed OTAs is because of his calf. It's the same injury he had last year during training camp, which made him miss a couple weeks during training camp last year."

"We didn't get him until the end of training camp last year and it's the same thing on the MRI and it's the same thing he's going through. But, hopefully we'll get him back sooner than later," added Shanahan.

Anyone who has followed Jennings' career closely, dating back to his time at Tennessee, probably assumed this was the case. Jennings isn't the type to remove himself from the field -- regardless of his contract situation.

It sounds like the 49ers' focus is on making sure that Jennings is healthy for the start of the 2025 season. As for the contract situation, we'll see if that gets resolved in the coming weeks. Either way, Jennings will be on the field for the 49ers this fall -- as long as he's healthy.