When the San Francisco 49ers were contemplating drafting Mac Jones in 2021, the then-Alabama quarterback might have daydreamed about running an offense that included George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.
Four years later, he had none of those weapons on hand, then lost fullback Kyle Juszczyk, a big part of Sunday’s game plan, early on to a concussion.
It didn’t seem to matter. The quarterback shook off a slow start to finish with 279 yards, three touchdowns and a 26-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints, the 49ers’ second gritty road win to begin the season.
Brock Purdy’s turf-toe-like injury gave Jones his first start of the season, and it’s possible he’ll get more opportunities, beginning next week against the Arizona Cardinals.
“I think there’s a chance,” Kyle Shanahan said when asked about Purdy’s Week 3 availability. “But we’ve got to see how the toe goes. We’re taking it a day at a time.”
The 49ers don’t seem inclined to rush Purdy back, in part because they have so much faith in Jones. For one, they didn’t sign any other backup quarterbacks following Purdy’s injury. Instead, they elevated Adrian Martinez, who’s never attempted a regular-season NFL pass, from the practice squad for Sunday’s contest.
Secondly, the 49ers went in with a pass-heavy game plan, one in which Jones attempted 39 passes. Purdy had only one game last season — 40 attempts in a Week 16 loss in Miami — in which he had more.
That began with San Francisco’s first three offensive plays, all of which fell incomplete. Jones said he was dealing with nerves early on, but that they went away after a message from left tackle Trent Williams.
“Trent came up to me and was like, ‘You’re good, dude, just go out there and hoop,’” Jones said. “And I was like, ‘I got you. I can go hoop.’ Once he said that, I was like, ‘All right, let’s go out and play ball.’ So that was kinda cool.”
Jones’ second drive was far smoother. He overcame a third-and-14 scenario by hitting Ricky Pearsall for 15 yards. Then on third-and-1 from the New Orleans 11, he faked a handoff to his right, spun to his left and found tight end Luke Farrell, who bulldozed his way into the end zone for his first career touchdown. Jones and the 49ers were effective on third downs, going 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) while the Saints converted 4 of 11 (36.4 percent).
Nothing symbolized the outing more than the 49ers’ end-of-half drive that began at their 23-yard line with 1:10 remaining. Two-minute drives aren’t easy even for grizzled veterans playing in their own stadium. The 49ers were playing in one of the noisiest venues in the league and already had burned a timeout earlier in the half.
They were also full of newcomers, including Jones, seventh-round rookie Connor Colby, who had to come in for injured left guard Ben Bartch, and receiver Kendrick Bourne, who had been signed only five days earlier.
Still, Jones ran it to near perfection, spreading the ball around to Bourne, Jauan Jennings, Christian McCaffrey and Jake Tonges before hitting McCaffrey on a 7-yard score in the right side of the end zone.
Bourne looked unsure of himself on a few formations, leading to a timeout in the first half and a delay-of-game penalty in the second. Still, when Juszczyk left the game, the 49ers had to lean on three-receiver formations, with Bourne typically lining up as that third receiver. He caught all three targets for 32 yards.
“For new guys to come in and execute that way, that’s really cool,” McCaffrey said.
Jones wasn’t flawless.
Shanahan preaches to his team the importance of winning the “middle eight” — the four minutes before halftime and the four minutes coming out of the break.
Following the nine-play scoring drive to end the second quarter, the 49ers seemed like they might grant the head coach’s wish when they drove to the Saints’ 48-yard line to begin the third quarter. On first down, however, Jones was too indecisive in the pocket and was hit by defensive end Chris Rumph II as he began his delivery. New Orleans used the resulting fumble to grab momentum and get back into the game with a 10-play touchdown drive that cut the 49ers’ lead to 16-14.
That, however, was as close as the Saints would get.
Jones’ next drive ended with an Eddy Piñeiro field goal — both of his field goal attempts went right down the middle, though he missed an extra point — and the one after that was capped by a 46-yard score to Jennings.
The play is a favorite of Shanahan’s, one in which three receivers line up on the right side with Jennings on the left. The Saints played it a little differently than expected by dropping a linebacker deep into coverage. It wasn’t a problem. Jennings and Jones read it the same way, allowing Jennings to coast into the end zone untouched.
JAUAN JENNINGS WHAT A TUDDY! 🔥
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/7YBXshFIM8
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 14, 2025
Jennings, who was questionable with a shoulder injury and took part only in Friday’s half-speed practice, was Jones’ top target Sunday. He caught five of the 10 passes that went his way for a game-high 89 yards.
“I just looked to the left a little bit, moved the ’backer and then threw it,” Jones said of the touchdown. “Then he took it to the house. He did a great job (in) obviously playing through some stuff. I loved those guys’ efforts.”
Heading into the draft four years ago, the slogan for a lot of 49ers fans seemed to be “Anyone but Mac.” They’ve likely softened that stance following Sunday’s performance, and Jones’ teammates seem to like him, too.
The quarterback has a self-effacing sense of humor and a goofy giggle that rang out several times in his postgame news conference. But he also has the swagger and confidence NFL quarterbacks must possess. Jones strode into the Superdome on Sunday wearing something out of the pages of a Euro fashion magazine — an Army-green linen suit with a floppy belt and no socks. A week earlier, he arrived in an all-red ensemble in Seattle.
“He’s just fun — fun energy,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “To have a backup quarterback who has that much swagger — the offense feeds off of it. He did a great job today.”
All linebacker Fred Warner cared about was that Jones put points on the board.
“To put up 26 points — that’s going to be winning football every week,” he said.
(Photo: Stephen Lew / Imagn Images)
