Surrounded by a depleted wide receiver corps and hobbled by an injured knee, Mac Jones willed his way through nearly 70 minutes of football.
As a nail-biter played out at SoFi Stadium, Jones looked very much to be a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest, scraping himself off the turf and hobbling to the sidelines on more than one occasion.
Jones, starting for an injured Brock Purdy on a third occasion this season, was all guts and plenty of glory as he led the San Francisco 49ers to a 26-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.
"He played his ass off, man," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said of Jones, who completed 33 of 49 passes for 342 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. "He was unbelievable in the first half. He got banged up there in the second half and battled through it. He protected the ball and, going against that defense and throwing the ball that many times, not having a turnover and protecting the ball like he did, I can't say enough good things about Mac."
It was kicker Eddy Pineiro who was a perfect 4 for 4 on field goals with a 59-yard go-ahead kick in in the fourth quarter and a 41-yarder that stood as the game-winner in overtime. It was a fourth-down stand by the San Francisco defense with just more than 3:30 to play in OT that clinched the win. However, it was Jones that led San Francisco -- dealing with myriad injuries -- to the upset from an impressive opening drive, through the valley of squandering a 14-point lead and ultimately to sweet victory.
The 342 yards for Jones are the second-highest single-game tally in his career, trailing only his 382 in Week 12 of the 2022 season for the New England Patriots in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. All Jones has done with the 49ers is win, though.
He's now 3-0 filling in for Purdy, having thrown for 905 yards and six touchdowns -- the latter tying him with Jim Plunkett for the most by a 49er in their first three games with the team, per NFL Research.
After Thursday, the 49ers (4-1) are a half-game in front of the Seattle Seahawks (3-1) despite dealing with a barrage of injuries to Purdy, Ricky Pearsall (out Thursday), Jauan Jennings (out Thursday), Brandon Aiyuk (coming back from season-ending ACL injury last year), George Kittle (injured reserve with a hamstring injury) and Nick Bosa (out for season with ACL tear). Purdy might miss more time, too, as he's day to day after aggravating the toe injury.
Jones, despite his performance, was quick to dismiss any rumblings of a changing of the guard -- even if the chatter is growing in volume.
"I think, you know, they brought me here to play as a backup and that's my job," said Jones, who connected with former Patriots teammate Kendrick Bourne 10 times for 142 yards. "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, like, he cares about this team. So, 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. Like, I've been in his position. I've been a starter, and you want your backup to go in there and win because at the end of the season, that could be the hit or miss between a playoff or not."
Jones was a hit from onset of Thursday's game, spearheading an eight-play, 72-yard opening drive in which he carved up the Rams. Absolutely humming, Jones was 5 of 5 for 77 yards on the opening salvo, culminating with a 6-yard scoring toss to tight end Jake Tonges, who's filled in excellently for Kittle.
On the 49ers' ensuing drive, Jones marched his club 91 yards in 17 plays and 8:15. Two snaps after hooking up with Demarcus Robinson for 18 yards on third-and-6, Jones threw a 1-yard touchdown to Christian McCaffrey.
The Rams fought back, however, and though Jones still played well, his toughness and ability just to keep playing became the story.
"Definitely a lot of things happened, but I feel good," said Jones, who's been dealing with a PCL sprain since training camp. "Just working through some stuff and, yeah, I mean, I was able to play, so that's all that matters. But I feel like I can protect myself, then I feel like it's my job to be out there."
With San Francisco leading, 17-7, in the third quarter, Jones was obliterated by Jared Verse. Jones rolled over and immediately clinched his left leg under the brace, clearly in pain. He would eventually jog to the sideline, never missing a snap.
Later, his forearm became an issue, as well, and he was hit hard once again, forced to peel himself off the turf with his pants hanging low and having to be helped to the sideline.
"He hurt his knee for a little bit there but he ended up bouncing back from that," Shanahan said. "His forearm was cramping there in the second half and in the fourth quarter. It was bothering him, but he worked through it."
Jones kept getting up. So too did the 49ers, who had squandered a 14-point lead in the first half and a 20-7 advantage in the third quarter. Los Angeles tied it at 20 early in the fourth, but Jones and Co. kept on keeping on.
The quarterback came out firing in OT, completing five straight passes to open the period, garnering three first downs before he was sacked and the 49ers were forced to settle for a field goal.
The defense was able to make it stick for the win, though. Not long after, Jones was at the podium.
He drew plenty of attention before and after the game sporting a red-and-black split-colored suit (perhaps even NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe).
"I wear suits because I'm going to work," Jones said.
Jones definitely put in some work on Thursday, and he'll likely have more ahead. So far, that's worked out well for the first-place 49ers.
