Quarterback Mac Jones caused a social-media stir on Thursday night by arriving for the San Francisco 49ers’ NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams wearing a red-and-black suit. Black and blue would have been more representative of what was about to happen to the former Alabama All-American.
“Tough as nails,” 11-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Trent Williams said of Jones after San Francisco took a 26-23 victory in overtime. “Just an apex competitor.”
San Francisco rewarded Jones’ pain by stopping the Rams on fourth-and-1 at the 49ers 11-yard line on the final snap in overtime. Los Angeles, which already had missed a 53-yard field-goal attempt and had an extra-point blocked, chose not to attempt to tie the game with 3:41 remaining in the extra period.
“If we would have lost, I still would have been proud of everybody just because of the way we fought,” Jones told Prime Video immediately after the game.
Playing for the third time in four games because of No. 1 QB Brock Purdy’s toe injury, Jones completed 33-of-49 passes for 342 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions to deliver his third win. Without San Francisco’s projected top three wide receivers or six-time Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle in the lineup, Jones reached the second-highest passing yardage in his NFL career.
“I was real impressed,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He played his ass off, man. Was unbelievable in the first half. Got banged up a little bit there in the second half and battled through it. Protected the ball going against that defense and throwing the ball that many times and not having a turnover and protecting like he did, I can’t say enough good things about Mac.”
On the 49ers’ first two possessions, Jones completed 11-of-13 passes for 131 yards, converted a fourth down on a sneak and threw touchdown passes of 6 yards to Jake Tonges and 1 yard to running back Christian McCaffrey to complete drives of 72 and 91 yards, respectively. The two scoring series had San Francisco in front 14-0 with 13:44 left in the first half.
Playing with a brace on his left knee for a sprained posterior cruciate ligament sustained in training camp and already limping, Jones looked as though he might be done with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter. Outside linebacker Byron Young drove him into the turf on a third-and-goal incompletion, leaving Jones grabbing his left leg.
But after being attended to on the field, Jones jogged off to the sidelines where trainers continued to massage, not his leg but his right forearm as he ate a banana.
“He hurt his knee for a little bit there,” Shanahan said. “But he ended up bouncing back from that. And then his forearm was cramping there in the second half. In the fourth quarter, that was bothering him, but he worked through it.”
Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 30-of-47 passes for 389 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He rallied the Rams into a 20-20 tie with 10:39 left in the fourth quarter, but defensive tackle Jordan Elliott blocked Joshua Karty’s extra-point kick that would have put Los Angeles in front.
Jones had three first-down completions, with two on third down, to move San Francisco from its 2-yard line to the Los Angeles 40, where an illegal-player-downfield penalty derailed the drive and led to Eddy Pineiro’s 59-yard field goal with 2:52 remaining the fourth quarter.
The 49ers dodged defeat when rookie defensive tackle Alfred Collins stole the football from Rams running back Kyren Williams at the San Francisco 1-yard line with 65 seconds left in regulation.
But with the 49ers unable to move off their goal line, Karty made a 48-yard field goal with two seconds left to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, a short kickoff allowed San Francisco to start at its 40, and Jones completed five consecutive passes to put the 49ers at the Rams 14-yard line. But Los Angeles’ only sack of the game short-circuited the drive.
On his third-down throw, the Rams’ pass-rush nearly knocked Jones’ pants off, and after the incompletion, the quarterback looked as though he might throw up before he made it to the sideline.
“I feel good,” Jones said at his postgame press conference. “Definitely a lot of things happened, but I feel good. Working through some stuff, but I was able to play, so that’s all that matters. If I feel like I can protect myself, then I feel like it’s my job to be out there.”
Pineiro’s 41-yard field-goal attempt grazed past the left upright to give San Francisco what turned out to be the deciding points with 5:51 left in overtime.
In addition to Jones, six other players from Alabama high schools and colleges got on the field during the San Francisco-Los Angeles game:
Forty-Niners defensive end Bryce Huff (St. Paul’s Episcopal) made two tackles and recorded one sack.
Rams running back Jarquez Hunter (Auburn) did not record any stats.
Forty-Niners cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. (South Alabama) did not record any stats.
Rams outside linebacker Jamil Muhammad (James Clemens) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
Forty-Niners defensive back Siran Neal (Eufaula, Jacksonville State) made one tackle on special teams.
Forty-Niners running back Brian Robinson Jr. (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Alabama) ran for 12 yards on five carries. He converted a fourth down on San Francisco’s second touchdown drive.
Darious Williams (UAB) started at cornerback for the Rams. Williams made three tackles.
Forty-Niners offensive tackle Kilian Zierer (Auburn) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OURNFL PAGE
San Francisco (4-1) plays the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 3:25 p.m. Oct. 12 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Los Angeles (3-2) plays the Baltimore Ravens at noon Oct. 12 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Bryce Huff pressures Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford during an NFL game on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Bryce Huff pressures Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford during an NFL game on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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