Darius Jennings

Darius Lamar Jennings[1] (born June 28, 1992) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist who is a free agent. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and played college football at Virginia. He has also played for the Chicago Bears, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans.

Darius Jennings
Jennings with the Tennessee Titans in 2018
Free agent
Position:Wide receiver
Return specialist
Personal information
Born: (1992-06-28) June 28, 1992
Baltimore, Maryland
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school:Gilman School
(Baltimore, Maryland)
College:Virginia
Undrafted:2015
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Receptions:27
Receiving yards:235
Return yards:1,052
Total touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Darius Jennings was born on June 28, 1992 in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended and played high school football at The Gilman School.[2]

College career

During his college career at Virginia, Jennings had 133 receptions for 1,667 yards with 11 touchdowns.[3] He majored in sociology.

Collegiate statistics
Darius Jennings
Year School Conf Class Pos G Rec Yds Avg TD
2011 Virginia ACC FR WR 13 20 238 11.9 1
2012 Virginia ACC SO WR 12 48 568 11.8 5
2013 Virginia ACC JR WR 12 38 340 8.9 3
2014 Virginia ACC SR WR 12 27 521 19.3 2
Career Virginia 133 1,667 12.5 11

Professional career

2015 season: Rookie year

Jennings signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in May 2015.[4] He started the season on the practice squad and was promoted to the active roster in early December.[5] Jennings was waived by the Browns on December 16, 2015,[6] but was re-signed on December 22.[7]

Jennings played in four games for the Browns in 2015, catching 14 passes for 117 yards.[8]

2016 season

On April 4, 2016, the Browns re-signed Jennings.[9] On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Browns.[10] The next day, he was signed to the Browns' practice squad.[11] He was released on October 6, 2016.[12]

Chicago Bears

On October 10, 2016, Jennings was signed to the Chicago Bears' practice squad.[13] He was released by the Bears on November 22, 2016.[14]

New York Jets

On December 6, 2016, Jennings was signed to the New York Jets' practice squad.[15] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Jets on January 2, 2017.[16] On April 26, 2017, Jennings was waived by the Jets.[17]

2017 season

On May 19, 2017, Jennings signed with the Tennessee Titans.[18] He was waived on September 2, 2017 and was signed to the Titans' practice squad the next day.[19][20] He was promoted to the active roster on September 23, 2017.[21] He was waived on November 25, 2017 and was re-signed back to the practice squad.[22]

2018 season

Jennings signed a reserve/future contract with the Titans on January 15, 2018.[23] In the season opener against the Miami Dolphins, Jennings scored his first NFL touchdown after returning a 94-yard kickoff return during the fourth quarter as the Titans lost by a score of 27–20.[24] During Week 9 against the Dallas Cowboys, he caught a 36-yard pass despite three defenders around him in the second quarter. He finished the 28-14 road victory with 36 receiving yards and 23 return yards.[25] In the next game against the New England Patriots, Jennings returned the opening kickoff for 58 yards and recorded a 21-yard pass completion to quarterback Marcus Mariota, the first of his career as the Titans won 34-10.[26][27]

Jennings finished the 2018 season with 22 kickoff returns for 698 yards and a touchdown. His 31.7 yards set a franchise record for average kickoff returns that also led the NFL.[28] He also caught 11 receptions for 101 yards and rushed once for two yards.[29]

2019 season

Jennings was released by the Titans on October 31, 2019.[30] Prior to his release, he caught two passes for 17 yards and returned seven kicks for 147 yards. He was re-signed on December 23, 2019.[31]

In the postseason, Jennings returned three kicks for 60 yards before the Titans were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

Los Angeles Chargers

On March 30, 2020, Jennings was signed by the Los Angeles Chargers.[32] He was released on September 5, 2020.[33]

NFL statistics
Legend
Led the league
Bold Career-high

Regular season
Year Team Games Receiving Rushing Returning Fumbles
GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTDRetYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2015CLE 41141178.4160000.000715822.628010
2018TEN 160111019.2360122.0202269831.794T100
2019TEN 802178.5110000.000919621.826000
Career271272358.7360122.020381,05227.794T110

Postseason
Year Team Games Receiving Rushing Returning Fumbles
GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTDRetYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2019TEN 20000.000000.00036020.022000
Career20000.000000.00036020.022000

Personal life

During the 2018 offseason, Jennings took part in the NFLPA’s Externship Program with Events DC and Under Armour. He helps out with "Next One Up," an organization helping inner-city high school athletes in Baltimore. He also worked as a camp counselor at his alma mater, The Gilman (Md.) School, helping middle schoolers with classwork and activities.[34]

References
  1. "Darius Jennings Pro-Football-Reference Profile". rbref.com.
  2. Bracken, Matt. "Gilman's Darius Jennings keeping busy". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  3. "Darius Jennings College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  4. Browns sign former Virginia wide receiver Darius Jennings (Gilman) following minicamp tryout
  5. Browns promote WR Darius Jennings
  6. Mary Kay Cabot (December 16, 2015). "Mike Pettine says Browns fought vs. 49ers 'and I don't know if I sensed that same attitude from the other side'". www.cleveland.com. Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  7. "Browns re-sign WR Darius Jennings, place OL John Greco on injured reserve". ClevelandBrowns.com. Cleveland Browns. December 22, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  8. "Browns' Darius Jennings: Provides depth in late-season games". www.cbssports.com. CBS Sports. January 5, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  9. "Browns sign restricted free agents and exclusive rights players". ClevelandBrowns.com. April 4, 2016. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  10. Gribble, Andrew (September 3, 2016). "Cleveland Browns reduce roster to 53". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017.
  11. "Browns claim 5 players, sign 4 to practice squad". ClevelandBrowns.com. September 4, 2016. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017.
  12. "Browns sign DL Gabe Wright to practice squad". ClevelandBrowns.com. October 5, 2016. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017.
  13. Mayer, Larry (October 10, 2016). "Bears elevate Bausby, waive Hurst". ChicagoBears.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017.
  14. Emma, Chris (November 22, 2016). "Bears Sign De'Vante Bausby To Active Roster, Dres Anderson To Practice Squad". Chicago.CBSlocal.com.
  15. Allen, Eric (December 6, 2016). "Jets Waive C.J. Spiller and Jeremy Ross". NewYorkJets.com.
  16. "Jets Sign 5 Players to Reserve/Future Deals". NewYorkJets.com. January 2, 2017. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017.
  17. Allen, Eric (April 26, 2017). "Jets Waive Six Players". NewYorkJets.com.
  18. Wyatt, Jim (May 19, 2017). "Titans Add Receiver, Fullback to Roster". TitansOnline.com.
  19. Wyatt, Jim (September 2, 2017). "Titans Down to 53 Players: A Position-by-Position Look". TitansOnline.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018.
  20. Wyatt, Jim (September 3, 2017). "Titans Add Eight Players to Practice Squad". TitansOnline.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018.
  21. Wyatt, Jim (September 23, 2017). "Titans Promote WR Darius Jennings, Release WR Zach Pascal". TitansOnline.com.
  22. Wyatt, Jim (November 25, 2017). "Titans Activate WR Harry Douglas to 53-Man Roster". TitansOnline.com.
  23. Wyatt, Jim (January 15, 2018). "Titans Sign 10 Players to Futures Contracts". TitansOnline.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018.
  24. "Titans' Darius Jennings: Returns kickoff for touchdown". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  25. RotoWire Staff (November 6, 2018). "Titans' Daruis Jennings: Hauls in 36-yard reception". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  26. "Darius Jennings returns opening kickoff for 58 yards". NFL.com. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  27. "New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans – November 11th, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  28. "Titans-Colts Postgame Notes". TitansOnline.com. December 30, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  29. "Darius Jennings 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  30. Wyatt, Jim (October 31, 2019). "Roster Move: Titans Re-Sign OL Hroniss Grasu, Release WR Darius Jennings". TitansOnline.com. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  31. Wyatt, Jim (December 23, 2019). "Titans Bring Back Receiver/Returner Darius Jennings, and Promote WR Rashard Davis to 53-Man Roster". TitansOnline.com.
  32. "Los Angeles Chargers Sign Wide Receiver Darius Jennings". Chargers.com. March 30, 2020.
  33. "We've Trimmed Our Roster to 53". Chargers.com. September 5, 2020.
  34. Wyatt, Jim (April 16, 2019). "Darius Jennings". TitansOnline.com.
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