The San Francisco 49ers have a 5-2 record with Mac Jones at quarterback this season. But when the NFL team deems Brock Purdy ready to play again, the former Alabama All-American will return to his backup role, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Shanahan said Purdy’s return date and the level of Jones’ play were “not related.”
“This is Brock’s team,” Shanahan said on Monday, “and if Brock’s good to go and everything and can play like Brock, there’s no decision to be made. It’s just nice as we go through this with Brock with the uncertainty of the toe, it is cool to have someone playing as good as Mac is.”
Purdy handled the QB duties in a 17-13 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 7 and a 26-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 28, with turf toe keeping him out of the lineup for the other seven games.
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Purdy became the 49ers’ No. 1 quarterback during his rookie season in 2022 and took San Francisco all the way to the NFC Championship Game. The next season, Purdy and the 49ers played in Super Bowl LVIII.
In May, San Francisco signed Purdy to a five-year, $265 million contract extension. In March, the 49ers had brought in Jones via free agency for a two-year, $8.41 million contract to work as Purdy’s backup.
Purdy has practiced on a limited basis for the past three weeks. Shanahan said he didn’t want to “put him out there too early.”
“Anytime you’re dealing with this turf toe, it’s something that probably won’t fully go away all year,” Shanahan said. “Regardless of when he comes back, he’s going to always have to deal with it a little bit, especially the people you talk to who have gone through turf toe. So it’s really about just assessing when’s the best time to come back that you have to deal with it the least. And it’s a little bit of a tricky decision.”
San Francisco plays the Los Angeles Rams at 3:25 p.m. CST Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The Rams and Seattle Seahawks are tied for the lead in the NFC West standings at 6-2, with the 49ers one-half game behind at 6-3.
Jones has completed 168-of-250 passes for 1,832 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Jones ranks fourth in the NFL with an average of 261.7 yards per game – 6.7 yards behind leader Matthew Stafford, the Rams QB.
While Purdy was the final player picked in the 2022 NFL Draft, Jones was the 15th choice in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Jones started the first 42 regular-season games of his career, plus a postseason contest, for the New England Patriots before being benched with six games left in the 2023 season. Traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars last year, Jones started seven games as Trevor Lawrence’s backup in 2024.
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