49ers hail Purdy fill-in Jones: 'Hell of a job' in win

NEW ORLEANS -- Although quarterback Mac Jones was making his 50th career NFL start, he walked into the Caesars Superdome on Sunday to play the New Orleans Saints with plenty of nerves.

Those jitters could be chalked up to a variety of things, not least of which was the fact that it was Jones' first start as a Niner with Brock Purdy out because of toe and left shoulder injuries.

In the opening minutes of what turned into a 26-21 win against the Saints, Jones' apprehension was on full display. His first trio of passes were all misfires as San Francisco went three-and-out. He took a sack for a loss of 4 yards, and his fourth pass fell incomplete.

Finally, left tackle Trent Williams, the four-time All Pro in his 15th NFL season, walked up to Jones and offered some simple advice.

"He was like, 'Just go hoop, dude, go make plays,'" Jones said. "And I was like, 'All right, if Trent Williams can say that then, I can do it. So that kind of just got me calmed down a little bit."

Indeed, after his rough start, Jones settled in and authored one of the best starts of his career, finishing 26-of-39 passing for 279 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 113.1. He was even better in some of the game's biggest moments, going 7-of-12 for 121 yards and all three scores on third down, becoming the first 49ers quarterback since Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 9 of 2019 to throw that many third-down touchdowns in a game.

It was the fifth three-touchdowns game of Jones' career (the other four came with the New England Patriots), and he became the third quarterback in franchise history to throw for 250-plus yards with three or more TDs and no interceptions in his first start with the team (Matt Cavanaugh in 1984, Nick Mullens in 2018).

All of that in the midst of another flurry of injuries to the offense.

The Niners entered Sunday without Purdy, tight end George Kittle (hamstring) and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee), with Williams (knee) and receiver Jauan Jennings (shoulder) playing through injuries after being listed as questionable Friday. San Francisco also lost fullback Kyle Juszczyk (concussion) and left guard Ben Bartch (ankle) early in Sunday's game with neither returning.

"I thought Mac played real well," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "We were scrambling there for a little bit, trying to figure some things out, but [I] thought he handled the situation well, thought he delivered the ball real well ... I thought he did a hell of a job."

Jones' only real miscue on the day came on San Francisco's opening drive of the third quarter when he dropped back to pass from the Saints 48, scanned the field and took too long to throw as defensive end Chris Rumph hit him and forced a fumble that linebacker Demario Davis recovered.

After the game, Jones took the blame, saying he has to "get rid of the ball" before such a play can happen.

Despite that miscue, Jones held up well in what was a much sturdier San Francisco pocket than it was for Purdy in Seattle this past week. Against the Seahawks, Purdy was under pressure on 31% of his 39 drop backs, but the Saints pressured Jones on just 14% of his 42 drop backs Sunday.

When given time, Jones mostly delivered, including a strike to Jennings for a 42-yard catch-and-run touchdown that provided the winning points before defensive ends Nick Bosa and Bryce Huff contributed game-clinching sacks on New Orleans' final two drives.

"He's just [got] fun energy," Bosa said. "To have a backup quarterback who has that much swagger, the offense feeds off of it."

Whether Jones will get another start in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals remains to be seen. Before Sunday, Shanahan indicated that Purdy could possibly miss multiple weeks with his injuries, the most severe of which is a form of turf toe. General manager John Lynch told KNBR radio on Thursday that Purdy's injury is viewed as "week to week."

But Shanahan offered at least a glimmer of hope that Purdy could return to play in the home opener at Levi's Stadium next week.

"I think there's a chance," Shanahan said. "But we've got to see how the toe goes. It's very up to debate, so we're just taking it a day at a time."

If Jones does have to start again, he said he will draw from the experience he had Sunday. After signing a two-year, $7 million contract as a free agent in March, Jones said he immediately began taking advantage of the breathing and meditation guidance the Niners make available to players.

Jones said Sunday he has done those exercises every day since he got to San Francisco and believes they have helped him with slowing his pulse and staying poised when big moments arrive.