Will Jauan Jennings Miss Week 1? Fantasy Football Outlook, Injury Update

Will Jauan Jennings play for the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1 of 2025? Will Jennings be healthy enough to play vs. Seahawks? Zach breaks down the latest Jauan Jennings injury news for fantasy football.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (calf) is coming off a career year in 2024 and has a chance to be the 49ers' top wide receiver going into the season after the team traded Deebo Samuel Sr. and is still waiting for Brandon Aiyuk (knee) to recover from last year's serious knee injury. However, Jennings has had issues of his own this training camp, which call into question his availability for Week 1.

Jennings is looking for a new contract from the 49ers, and his situation was further complicated by a calf injury that he picked up after just four practices. His recovery and contract situation haven't been publicly addressed by either the team or the receiver to this point, so there are definitely question marks around "Third and Jauan" coming into the year.

Will Jennings be healthy before the season begins? Could he even play in Week 1 against the Seahawks? Let's take a look at the latest updates on the receiver's status and how it impacts his fantasy outlook.

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Will Jennings Play This Season?

Over the offseason, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Jennings was seeking a big contract extension and would prefer a trade if no extension was available. However, even after that report, Jennings reported to camp on time and was participating in practices before being forced to sit out due to a calf injury.

Jennings originally suffered a calf strain in the offseason and re-aggravated the issue in practice on July 27. He has not been able to practice since then, and he missed the entire preseason.

Given his desire for a new contract, Jennings could be less motivated to push or play through any injury, and the situation still seems extremely volatile with Week 1 looming.

Sounds like there's still no resolution in the 49ers/Jauan Jennings situation. I don't think either side has ruled out anything. I don't think either side is happy.

Deadlines make deals/decisions/whatever.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) August 26, 2025

The deadline that's looming is the 49ers' Week 1 matchup on Sunday, September 7, in Seattle. Jennings hasn't practiced in a month, and time is running out on him being ready to go at full speed for Week 1.

There were discussions earlier this week that Jennings could land on the injured reserve, which would keep him out for the first four weeks of the season. The team could be using that potential as a negotiating tactic to motivate Jennings to get back on the field, but it seemed to be more of a combination of the calf injury and the contract issue. However, the team made multiple moves to get the roster to 53 players without any movement on Jennings. If they were planning on making that move, it would have made sense to do it earlier in the week.

It definitely looks like Jennings will play at some time this year, but the injury and his missing so much practice time are cause for some level of concern.

Will Jauan Jennings Play In Week 1?

While the situation has a wide variety of outcomes, it still seems possible that Jennings gets back on the practice field and is ready for a large role in Week 1.

When asked about Jennings' status for the season opener on Saturday, coach Kyle Shanahan said, "I expect him to be back. I think he should be back from it, but you never know with calves."

ICYMI:

🏈49ers HC Kyle Shanahan told reporters that he expects WR Jauan Jennings, who has missed training camp due to a calf injury, to be available in Week 1 vs. Seattle.

🏈49ers WR Jacob Cowing reinjured his hamstring this week and could be out six weeks.

🏈Raiders QB Aidan… pic.twitter.com/0XPcn6LPjX

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 24, 2025

Jennings will need to get back to practice with the team before Week 1 to be ready for the matchup, but he could do that with or without a new deal in the next few days. As we've seen with other receivers who have been much more vocal with their demands, a new deal can cure all that ails them and put them right back in a great spot. He could also return without a new deal, play on his current contract, and look to cash in after the season.

As Shanahan indicated, though, calf injuries can be tricky to manage and predict, and they can also be prone to re-injury, so the team will be careful not to rush him back.

Jauan Jennings 2025 Fantasy Outlook

Jennings is one of the most interesting names in fantasy football drafts this year because the variance of his potential outcomes is so vast. He is coming off the best season of his career and has established himself as one of Brock Purdy's most reliable receivers. He finished the year with career highs in catches, targets, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. He missed two games but still racked up 77 catches for 975 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

He set the fantasy football world on fire with a three-touchdown game against the Rams in which he totaled 175 receiving yards on 11 catches. He had another 10-catch game later in the year against Seattle, showing off how high a ceiling he has when he gets the focus of the offense.

With Samuel traded and Aiyuk sidelined, Jennings has the potential to be the true WR1 for the prolific Kyle Shanahan passing attack. Especially until Aiyuk returns, he has legitimate top-10 wide receiver upside in any matchup when he's healthy.

The calf injury and contract dispute definitely make his outlook murky, though, since there's really no floor for him. He could remain sidelined with his injury, or if he decides to try and put pressure on the team to give him a new deal. He has plenty of leverage since the rest of the receiver room is so banged up and unproven.

Ricky Pearsall is ready to step into a huge role and would be the biggest beneficiary of Jennings' situation continuing into the season. George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey would have to carry more of the workload as well. The rest of the receiver room is extremely uncertain since Demarcus Robinson was suspended for the first three games of the season, Jacob Cowing (hamstring) and Jordan Watkins (ankle) are both injured, and Russell Gage Jr. was released but could end up back on the practice squad and possibly promoted for early-season work.

Getting Jennings healthy and back as the team's No. 1 receiver seems like the right move for both sides, but it remains to be seen if that will happen in time for Week 1.

Right now, Jennings is the WR47 in the RotoBaller rankings, and his ADP in NFFC is WR40. If you feel good about your depth at the position, Jennings could end up being an incredible value at that draft spot. If he's your WR4 in standard leagues, he brings an immensely high ceiling. However, if you opt to take a shot on Third and Jauan, be sure to build in extra depth since he also brings the potential for disaster, uneven production, or even being phased out due to his contract situation.

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