Barely minutes after the 49ers held off the Bears last Sunday night to set up an NFC West showdown with the Seahawks, San Francisco cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said he was looking forward to his own personal showdown with receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“Hopefully I get to shadow JSN, Lenoir said after the game. “I’m ready for this. Like I hope he ready … man-to-man coverage, me and him. That’s what I want. Me and him."
San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, a former Seahawks assistant, noted during the week it’s hard to let one cornerback simply follow a receiver all over the field because of how it impacts where other players line up.
And it did not appear as if the 49ers did much to assure Lenoir covered Smith-Njigba all the time.
But there were a few times the two did face off, notably on he first series of the game when Lenoir was called for defensive pass interference on Smith-Njigba in the end zone, giving the Seahawks the ball at the 49ers 1.
Smith-Njigba had six catches for 84 yards to finish with 1,793 for the season, leaving him 154 ahead of the Rams' Puka Nacua, who will play against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, for the NFL lead.
Smith-Njigba said he saw what Lenoir said during the week, then offered what could be termed a gentle jab.
“I mean I definitely heard it," he said. “It’s hard to respond back to all my fans. But I knew we were going to see him today and take care of business."
It was not the first time Lenoir had taken a shot at Smith-Njigba.
After it was reported that DK Metcalf wanted to be traded by the Seahawks last March, Lenoir wrote while reposting a story that:
“Bro you can’t leave Seattle you the only one that made that game fun.
A little later he was reported to say on an Instagram video about the Metcalf trade request that: “Y’all cannot let DK let leave. Y’all can’t do that. Like, who… how am I gonna have fun out there? Njigba, he be crying all day. He cry. That’s all he do is cry. ‘Ref, he holding. He holding, ref. Oh no, don’t hurt me.’ Crybaby. Bro, I’m not worried about JSN. He know that.”
All of which could provide for an even juicier subplot should the Seahawks and 49ers meet again in the playoffs.
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