San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver A.J. Jenkins has been invited to go through the grueling uphill run that former 49ers receiver Jerry Rice made the staple of his offseason workouts. It appears that Jenkins needs it.
Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports that Jenkins showed up out of shape to the first day of the 49ers’ minicamp today. Maiocco calls it “easy to see” and says that 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh noticed.
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reports that when he was asked about Jenkins, Harbaugh immediately pointed out that many of the receivers were out of shape. Jenkins, who got winded as practice went on and had two bad drops, said he agrees that he needs to get into better shape and found that the pace of the 49ers’ work is faster than the pace of the workouts he’s been doing on his own.
Maiocco also posted a video of Jenkins running a figure-8 race with fellow rookie receiver Chris Owusu. Owusu won the race, and it sounded like Jenkins was getting yelled at by the coach running the drill for not hustling all the way through the end.
None of this will be an issue at all if Jenkins proves himself a hard worker over the summer and is ready to go when the preseason starts in three months. But it appears that Jenkins is not off to a great start in San Francisco.