Mac Jones went 5-3 as the 49ers starting quarterback while Brock Purdy recovered from a turf toe injury. But his time as starter came to an end Sunday when coach Kyle Shanahan announced Purdy would return to action against the Arizona Cardinals.
“He’s understood it the whole time. I think he had a real good idea that Brock was getting there, was going to be ready this week,” Shanahan said on KNBR’s “Dirty Work” show. “It wasn’t something that I really had to have a big meeting with or anything, but I did before we went out on the practice field.”
Shanahan added he called Jones to tell him how much he appreciated him and to let him know how well he played in Purdy’s absence.
“And he’s like, ‘Hey man, I enjoyed it. I’m going to go have fun on the scout team today. And I’ll be ready if I’m ever needed again,’” Shanahan said. “So Mac handled it great since the beginning. Him and Brock have been studs in the room together. They help each other a ton. They enjoy each other.”
In eight starts, Jones threw 13 touchdowns to six interceptions. He completed 69.6% of his passes and helped keep the 49ers in the playoff race.
In June, ESPN wrote that San Francisco is the perfect place for Jones to revive his career because he could take a similar path that Sam Darnold took. He played well enough with the 49ers that the quarterback earned a full-time opportunity with the Minnesota Vikings last season. Now with the Seattle Seahawks, Darnold is 7-2 in eight starts with 17 touchdowns.
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