San Francisco quarterback Mac Jones sustained a knee sprain in the 49ers’ second preseason game on Saturday and won’t be available when the NFL team closes its preseason schedule on Saturday.
In announcing the injury on Tuesday, San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said he expected Jones to be out for one week, so he should be ready for the 49ers’ regular-season opener Sept. 7 against the Seattle Seahawks.
San Francisco signed the former Alabama All-American as a free agent in March, securing a backup for Brock Purdy for a two-year, $8.41 million contract.
Jones did not leave the 49ers’ 22-19 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday with an injury. He ran four full possessions after Purdy handled the San Francisco offense on the opening drive. Jones’ series ended with an interception, a touchdown, a missed field-goal attempt and a field goal as he completed 13-of-16 passes for 135 yards.
In the 49ers’ preseason opener, Jones helmed San Francisco’s first three possessions, which ended in a touchdown, a punt and an interception. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 74 yards and had a 2-yard run on a fourth-and-1 snap in a 30-9 loss to the Denver Broncos.
The 49ers signed quarterback Nate Sudfeld on Tuesday. He was on the San Francisco practice squad in 2021 before the 49ers released him at the end of the preseason in 2022.
Sudfeld has been out of the NFL since the Detroit Lions released him at the end of the preseason last year. Since entering the NFL as a sixth-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft, Sudfeld has played in six regular-season games without a start.
The other quarterback on the 49ers’ roster is former South Alabama standout Carter Bradley. After spending his rookie season with the Raiders without playing in a regular-season game, Bradley signed with San Francisco on July 31.
In the 49ers’ two preseason games, Bradley has completed 14-of-27 passes for 128 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Shanahan said when asked about the quarterback plan for Saturday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers. “I initially planned on playing some guys. To be honest, I’m getting less on that right now, especially with Mac being out. That’s why we brought in Nate, too, because I know we’re going to want at least two other guys to play besides Brock, if he does go. But I’ll decide on that after these next two practices.”
Jones is preparing for his fifth NFL season.
After Jones had directed Alabama’s CFP national-championship team through an undefeated 2020 season, the New England Patriots made the Crimson Tide QB the 15th selection in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Jones started all 42 games that he played for the Patriots. He led a playoff squad and went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie. But New England’s record in Jones’ starts in 2022 and 2023 was 8-17, and he was benched with six games remaining in the 2023 campaign.
New England traded Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars last offseason.
Because of injuries to Trevor Lawrence, Jones started seven games and played in 10 for Jacksonville in 2024. He completed 171-of-262 passes for 1,672 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. Over the final six weeks of the regular season, Jones ranked eighth in the NFL in passing yards.
In 52 NFL regular-season games, Jones has completed 1,035-of-1,570 passes for 10,590 yards with 54 touchdowns and 44 interceptions and run for 419 yards and two touchdowns on 145 carries.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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