The San Francisco 49ers won’t have starting quarterback Brock Purdy available for Sunday, and their backup’s status is suddenly in doubt as well.
Yet, Mac Jones detailed what he is going through to get ready to play and what the Niners’ plan is to get him ready for their showdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida.
Brock Purdy has not practiced this week yet is on the injury report as questionable. It’s likely Jones will be the starter for the second straight week — and fourth time this season.
Mac Jones Is Working Hard To Play In Tampa
The 49ers (4-1) are 3-0 with Jones as their starter this season, and it’s no stretch to say he has kept them afloat over their first five weeks. Jones has a 66.7 completion percentage, a 99.1 quarterback rating and 6-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his outings.
Yet, even despite the mini-bye after the Niners’ 26-21 overtime road win over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, Jones is being listed as questionable with an oblique injury after his limited practice Wednesday.
“I’ve been getting treatment every day,” Jones said Wednesday. “Trying to do everything I can — sleep, eat, do the little things — and everyone else is doing the same thing so that’s NFL football.”
Jones confirmed he was injured on the Niners’ final offensive play — when he was hit by Byron Young on a third-down incompletion. Eddy Pineiro kicked the go-ahead, 41-yard field goal, and the Niners stopped the Rams to end the game.
“That was the last snap, so I guess I didn’t have to find out [if he could play through the pain],” Jones said. “We’ve got a plan in place and just gotta work through it and make sure you can protect yourself.”
When pressed to offer more specifics, Jones said he was trying to spare his aching body during practice so he could air it out Sunday.
“I was trying to save some throws,” Jones said. “At the end of the day, I’ve got to be ready for Sunday, and we’ve got a plan. So I’m taking it day by day.”
Adrian Martinez Would Start If Mac Jones Can’t Play
Fans of the 49ers know they have been ravaged by injuries this season. They likely don’t want to even think of a world where San Francisco has to go into Tampa — against the 4-1, NFC South-leading Bucs — without at least Jones playing.
But rookie quarterback Adrian Martinez is in line to make his NFL debut if both Purdy and Jones can’t play Sunday — or if Jones sustains an injury against the Bucs.
But Jones feels he has the perfect skillset and demeanor to step right in and play.
“I think he’s really cool,” Jones said. “Just a laid-back dude. Doesn’t let a lot get to him.”
Though Martinez has never taken the field in the NFL, he will turn 26 in January and is no stranger to pressure. He played his first four seasons at Nebraska — while feeling the weight of trying to guide that program back to prominence — before playing his COVID year at Kansas State.
“I feel like he’s had an interesting journey,” Jones said. “He’s the same guy every day, and those are the guys you want in your quarterback room.”
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