The San Francisco 49ers are currently gearing up for the upcoming 2025 NFL season, which is slated to begin on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks on the road. The 49ers are entering this year with relatively low expectations after a 2024 season in which they missed the playoffs altogether on the heels of the previous year's Super Bowl appearance.
A big reason why the 49ers performed well below expectations in 2024 was the fact that they were dealt several tough injuries, including to star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and future Hall of Fame running back Christian McCaffrey. The 49ers are certainly hoping that the same thing doesn't happen this year, and on Wednesday, they got a positive injury update on one of their other key wide receivers.
“(49ers head coach Kyle) Shanahan said Jauan Jennings (calf) will be limited at practice today but will play Sunday. Everyone’s excited that he’s back,” reported Vic Tafur of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter.
Jennings is another key downfield target for newly re-signed quarterback Brock Purdy, and together with Aiyuk and George Kittle forms a solid wide receiving trio.
Can the 49ers bounce back?
As previously mentioned, the San Francisco 49ers had a disappointing 2024 season thanks in large part to untimely injuries following their 2023 Super Bowl run.
The poor play called into question for some whether or not Brock Purdy was solely reliant on elite skill positional talent to be a competent NFL quarterback, but that didn't stop the 49ers from extending the former last pick in the draft this offseason and turning him into one of the highest paid players in the league.
With teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, and Detroit Lions all rising in the NFC, much of the spotlight has been taken off the 49ers in terms of Super Bowl contention, but if the team can figure out a way to stay healthy, there's no reason why they won't be able to climb their way back into the mix in the conference.
In any case, the 49ers are set to kick off their season on Sunday against the Seahawks on the road at 4:05 PM ET.
