New England Patriots
“KB has brought so much energy, so much juice to this team, and we love and appreciate him so much.”
A pair of Patriots are thriving out on the West Coast.
Former New England QB Mac Jones improved to 3-0 this season as a starter for the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday — helping his team beat the Rams in overtime, 26-23, at SoFi Stadium.
Starting in place of injured QB Brock Purdy once again, Jones completed 33-of-49 for 342 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 100.9.
“I don’t really pay attention to much to it,” Jones told ESPN’s Nick Wagoner of San Francisco entering the game as 8.5-point underdogs. “[San Francisco coach] Kyle [Shanahan] came up to me, and he was pissed about it.
“He’s like, ‘Dude, I can’t believe they moved us to underdogs again,’ or like more [extreme underdogs] or whatever. And I’m like, ‘I don’t know what that means really, [but] like, yeah, let’s go kill them.’ He was pissed about it. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m pissed, too.’”
Jones spread the wealth in terms of his passing targets on Thursday, but his primary option was former Patriots wideout Kendrick Bourne — who set career highs with 10 receptions for 142 yards. Eight of those catches resulted in first downs.
“KB has brought so much energy, so much juice to this team, and we love and appreciate him so much,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk told Wagoner of Bourne’s contributions. “Guys that have played with him before knew that, but I think everyone that hasn’t has seen it right away. He’s definitely helped spark this team.”
Bourne, who signed with San Francisco on Sept. 9 after being released by New England in August, already has a strong rapport with Jones. The 30-year-old wideout had the best season of his career with Jones as his QB in 2021 — posting 55 catches for 800 yards and five touchdowns.
Jones took his fair share of hits during Thursday’s win, at one point suffering a knee injury in the third quarter before remaining in the game.
“He played his ass off,” Shanahan said of Jones. “He was unbelievable in the first half. Got banged up a little bit there in the second half, and battled through it, and protected the ball.
“Going against that defense and throwing the ball that many times and not having a turnover and protecting it like he did, I can’t say enough good things about Mac.”
Jones has been a great fit in Shanahan’s system so far, with the former 2021 first-round pick throwing for 904 yards, eight touchdowns, and one interception in three games start in place of Purdy.
Joining Shanahan seems to have presented Jones with the clean slate that he was looking for after three tumultuous seasons in Foxborough.
Initially drafted by New England with the hopes of being the team’s next franchise QB, Jones was eventually benched during the 2023 season after he threw 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions across 11 games.
He was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of the 2024 season in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick. Playing for his hometown team, Jones threw eight touchdowns and eight interceptions across 10 games (seven starts) after Trevor Lawrence was injured.
After signing a two-year deal with the 49ers this past offseason, Jones appears to be a solid addition to a system that is playing to his strengths.
As noted by Next Gen Stats, 28 of Jones’ 33 completions on Thursday were on passes under 10 yards — including both of his touchdown throws.
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