The fan base is already choosing up sides and wondering if maybe Brock Purdy could end up holding a clipboard when healthy.
Mac Jones knows better, even after a 26-23 overtime time win for the 49ers over the Rams Thursday night, during which he elevated himself to sainted status — at least for now — among The Faithful.
“They brought me here to play as a backup, and that’s my job,” Jones said. “Brock’s the starter of this team, and right now he’s dealing with something. For him to go out there last week and play when you know he probably wasn’t at full health, I’m just trying to get some wins for him so it helps us down the line.
“At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. You want your backup to go out there and win, because at the end of the season, that could be the hit or miss between making the playoffs or not.”
Which is precisely the point. To create a quarterback controversy where there is none is a mindless exercise. It’s better to celebrate the 49ers for being a team that has two quarterbacks capable of taking them to the postseason. Purdy has done it twice. Jones led the 49ers to win over a Rams team that should be among the best in the NFC and a legitimate contender to reach the Super Bowl.
Jones was 33-for-49 for 342 yards, two touchdowns and had no interceptions. He played with a brace on his left knee, hurt it again, necessitating a trip onto the field from the training staff, and was having his calf and right forearm worked on constantly as Matthew Stafford was finding the range against the 49ers’ defense.
“He played his ass off,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Was unbelievable in the first half. Got banged up in the second half and battled through it and protected the ball going against that defense and throwing the ball that many times without having a turnover. I can’t say enough good things about Mac.”
You and everybody else. Amazon Prime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and analyst Kirk Herbstreit were falling all over themselves trying to come up with ways to sum up what Jones was doing in extremely tough circumstances.
That’s how good Jones was. Shanahan and the 49ers likely erred in letting Purdy play last week in a 26-21 loss to Jacksonville. His turf toe worsened to the point where he was declared out on Wednesday and didn’t even make the trip to Los Angeles.
No one is sure when Purdy will be back. And assuming Jones didn’t come out of an extremely physical win with something that could put him on the sidelines, he could be the quarterback when the 49ers return to action in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jones is already 3-0 as the starter for a team that’s 4-1 and atop the NFC West. The 49ers took a lot of flak for being inert in free agency, but it’s conceivable that the two-year, $7 million deal which landed Jones could save their season.
In the first half, Jones was pretty much flawless in executing Shanahan’s offense as well as it can be run, considering the caliber of the opponent. He was 15-of-23 for 179 yards and both touchdowns, 6 yards to Jake Tonges and 1 yard to Christian McCaffrey. The 49ers dominated the time of possession and led 17-7, a lead they expanded to 20-7 in the third quarter.
But the 49ers as currently constituted simply aren’t equipped to finish off the Rams without a fight. Not without George Kittle, Purdy, Brandon Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall Jr., Nick Bosa, Jauan Jennings, etc., etc.
That the Rams came back was totally predictable. This is a Rams team that hung with Philadelphia last season in the playoffs and again in a 33-25 loss this season. They were 3-1 and had beaten the previously unbeaten Indianapolis Colts. Their defensive front is as fearsome as it gets.
Jones even did something highly unusual in his postgame press conference: He called the Rams the best defense in the NFL.
“It was just awesome to be on a team that fights,” Jones said. “Even if we lost, I would have been just as proud, to be honest, because I know those guys have my back and I have their back.”
Left tackle Trent Williams agreed with Jones’ assessment of the Rams and said of his quarterback, “Tough as nails man, just an apex competitor.”
Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, who weathered two painful drops against Jacksonville and played the game of his life against the Rams with 10 receptions for 142 yards, played with Jones in New England, where he was unceremoniously replaced after three seasons despite a strong rookie year.
“It’s just awesome to see him in this space,” Bourne said. “New England was a different world for him. To see now the peace he has, playing free and having fun, I think that’s a big part of the game for him.”
Running back Christian McCaffrey said he didn’t know what the oddsmakers thought about the 49ers’ chances and called the NFL the “best reality show” before being asked to assess what Jones has brought to the team.
“I don’t have enough good things to say about Mac,” McCaffrey said. “He’s somebody we can all get behind. It’s a testament to his attitude and the way he plays football. It’s a testament to Brock and the way he’s been helping him and getting him ready to go.”
In the end, Jones was still trying to process it all.
“Definitely a lot of things happened,” Jones said. “I was working through some stuff and I was able to play. If I can protect myself, I feel I should be out there. That was the first time the trainers had to come out on the field in my career. But once I realized what I was dealing with, and flipped over, I realized what it was and I felt a lot better.”