EAGAN, Minn. -- Jauan Jennings explained Saturday why he voiced a desire to remain with the Minnesota Vikings earlier this season, despite a steep production decline, as the team discussed a trade that would have returned him to the San Francisco 49ers, where he played the first six seasons of his career.
"I just thought it was best for both teams," Jennings told ESPN. "No distractions. I love where I'm at."
Jennings, who signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Vikings in June, will miss Monday night's game against the Buffalo Bills because of a strained calf that he suffered in practice this week. He missed a game in Week 2 while grieving the death of a family member, but in six appearances this season he has only 10 targets on 145 routes run. He has caught six of those passes for 54 yards, his lowest totals through eight weeks of a season since he was a part-time player with the 49ers in 2021.
Much of that can be explained by the Vikings' intention to maximize targets to receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, as well as their use of tight end T.J. Hockenson as a safety valve in the middle of the field. The 49ers presumably had more robust plans for Jennings given their injuries this season at the position.
"I'm not the coach, so I don't call the plays," Jennings said. "I'm a player, so I just play the game. I feel like anybody who watches football, who watches sports in general, kind of understands what comes with it."
Jennings was particularly demonstrative on the sideline during a Week 5 victory at the New Orleans Saints, at one point pounding the turf on the sideline after he and quarterback Kyler Murray could not connect on a deep pass. The Vikings had signed veteran receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to their practice squad earlier that week, and they engaged the 49ers in trade talks not long after.
The discussions advanced to the point where Jennings spoke with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.
"He likes where he's at," Shanahan said earlier this week, "and I thought he made sense [with] what he said, and I agreed with him."
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said he has spent "a lot of time talking to [Jennings] throughout the season" and added: "We really built up a strong relationship and out of the respect for the coach to player, that's one thing, but just the respect for our personal relationship that we have, just as we worked through that, I thought really both sides handled things the right way and ultimately I was super fired up that Jauan really enjoys it here, loves being a Minnesota Viking and that's kind of just where we left it."
As of Saturday, the Vikings hadn't yet decided who would replace Jennings as the Vikings' No. 3 receiver on Monday night. Beckham is an option, O'Connell said, but he noted that Beckham has worked in practice mostly as a backup to the positions that Jefferson and Addison play, and only this week got reps at Jennings' "F" position. If Beckham isn't elevated for the game, the Vikings would use a combination of Tai Felton and Myles Price in the role. Other options to replace Jennings on the gameday roster are practice squad receivers Jeshaun Jones and Dillon Bell.