49ers put Jennings on injured reserve

The 49ers placed oft-injured offensive tackle Jonas Jennings on injured reserve Tuesday, likely bringing a close to his time with the franchise.

Jennings missed all or parts of 47 games due to injuries in four seasons with the 49ers. He sustained a dislocated shoulder Sept. 14 in the 49ers’ second game of the season. Adam Snyder has played well at right tackle the past two games.

“Jonas did everything in his power to get back from the injury, and he was cleared to return to practice as long as he wore a harness,” 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan said. “It was a matter of pain tolerance, but he wasn’t going to be 100 percent without surgery. We discussed it with Jonas and our medical team and all parties agreed that it would be the best thing for Jonas, and his future, to go ahead and have the surgery now.”

The 49ers replaced Jennings on the 53-man roster with second-year tackle Jacob Bender, who was signed from the Patriots practice squad. Bender (6-foot-6, 315 pounds) was originally selected by the Jets in the sixth round of the 2007 draft out of Nicholls State.

Jennings, a eight-year professional, underwent surgery Tuesday to repair his right shoulder. He is scheduled to earn $4.2 million in salary in 2009 as part of the original seven-year, $36 million contract he signed on the first day of free agency in 2005.

Jennings was the first free-agent signing of the Mike Nolan-McCloughan era.

If Jennings is released in the offseason, he will still count $3.5 million against the 49ers’ 2009 salary cap, but the 49ers would realize a cap savings of more than $3 million from his scheduled cap figure of $6.59 million.

“We’ll address that at the end of the season,” McCloughan said. “Jennings has two years left on his contract, but durability has been a question.

“As of right now, he’s a 49er. It’s not his fault he got hurt. He’s done everything in his power to try to get back and to try to be able to play for us. When he did play for us, he has played well and we’ve had success with him as a tackle and they are hard to find.”