Jennings bummed after missing 1K milestone with ‘mistake’ ejection originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Jauan Jennings doesn’t believe he did anything to warrant an ejection from the 49ers’ eventual 47-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at State Farm Stadium — an early exit that almost certainly cost the wide receiver the first 1,000-yard season of his NFL career.
“Just a normal pancake [block] in the book of football,” Jennings told reporters of his second-quarter scuffle with Cardinals cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, which happened right after the 49ers wideout got into a separate altercation with Arizona corner Starling Thomas V.
“Took him to the ground, and I tried to get up, and he wouldn’t let me get up. Just kept grabbing my jersey, grabbing my face mask as much as he could, anything to grab me, and I was just trying to get him off me.”
Jennings told reporters that after his first dust-up with Thomas, Murphy-Bunting stood up for his Cardinals teammate and told Jennings to “come to his side.”
“I told him, just give me time,” Jennings continued. “Luckily, it was the next play. And he got exactly what his buddy got the play before.”
Both Jennings and Murphy-Bunting were ejected from the game — a decision Jennings adamantly disagrees with, especially since it removed him from the contest just 25 yards shy of the 1,000-yard milestone.
“It hurts a lot. Hurts a lot,” Jennings said of finishing the 2024 NFL season with 975 receiving yards. “I believe everything happens for a reason. You know, give me another chance. There’s first time for everything, so next year. …
“No [regrets] other than the 25 yards. Humans make mistakes. They threw me out, I think it was a mistake. Humans make those, so no regrets.”
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan also was surprised to see Jennings ejected from the regular-season finale.
“I know Jauan blocks to the whistle every single play, and they usually get ejected for throwing a punch or something,” Shanahan told reporters after the game, noting officials didn’t give him a reason for the ejection. “I didn’t see one. They didn’t tell me that he threw a punch. …
“I was asking [Jennings] if he ever threw a punch, and he was adamant that he didn’t. I was like, that’s what I saw. So I was just surprised he got ejected.”
Joshua Dobbs, who made his first 49ers start in place of quarterback Brock Purdy on Sunday, found the entire situation “frustrating” after he was unable to help Jennings reach the 1,000-yard mark.
“I mean, Jauan’s being Jauan, quite frankly, and if you look back at those two plays, their guy’s taking off his helmet and Jauan gets a flag. No clue how that happens,” Dobbs told reporters. “And then the second play, Jauan’s getting stomped out on the sideline, and they throw a flag on him and eject him when he’s just playing football.
“So it was pretty frustrating, especially knowing how much it meant for Jauan to be out there, to play hard, be himself playing the game and then obviously get to the milestone of 1,000, was frustrating to see him go out. But I’m proud of the way he fought, all the guys fought, stepped up and had his back … It was frustrating we didn’t get there, especially when it was something taken out of our hands.”
Jennings finished the 2024 season with 77 catches for 975 yards and six touchdowns. And with how hard the receiver plays, the 49ers Faithful can rest assured he’ll give reaching the milestone his all next year.
