Seemingly 49ers starter Mac Jones working although knee, indirect points

SANTA CLARA — Mac Jones was bobbing and weaving, doing his greatest to not expose an excessive amount of data concerning his well being.

Through the temporary media window throughout follow Thursday, probably the most able-bodied quarterback on the roster was Adrian Martinez. The opposite thrower was quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi. Jones is enjoying with a heavy knee brace and is coping with an indirect damage that occurred late in a 26-21 win over the Los Angeles Rams every week earlier.

It seems Jones wound up not throwing in any respect.

“He wasn’t able (to throw) today so he just focused on handoffs and stuff like that,” coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned on KNBR-680. “Really tried to rest it up. Should be able to go on Sunday, but definitely wasn’t good enough to go today. Hopefully that’ll continue to improve.”

He was listed as a restricted participant. Starter Brock Purdy didn’t take part and isn’t anticipated to play Sunday in opposition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, placing Jones in line for his second straight begin and fourth of the season.

“Mick wanted to go out there and play quarterback and he looked pretty good,” Jones mentioned. “I was just trying to save some throws. There’s a lot of volume out thee and you’ve got to be ready for Sunday so taking it day by day.”

The query was posed to Jones whether or not he would play if the sport was at present.

“The game’s not today, right?,” Jones mentioned. “I don’t do theoretical questions but I definitely feel like I have a good plan in place. The game’s on Sunday and we’ll see how I feel when I get there.”

In the identical manner Jones deflected speak of his well being, he additionally fended off questions concerning the toughness it took to finish the Rams sport when it appeared he wouldn’t. Jones had cramps in his knee and throwing arm, combating them with bananas and pickle juice.

Basic supervisor John Lynch mentioned the knee cramp that left him mendacity on the sector was misidentified on the sideline as a critical knee damage, with coaches getting Martinez able to take over.

“I just think every game is different,” Jones mentioned. “In that game ,I knew it was going to take a lot of toughness and just taking it one play at a time. If you can protect yourself I think you should be in the game.”

Jones’ success of late has Nick Saban, his school coach at Alabama, resurrecting tales about Jones’ previously unstable follow persona. Saban mentioned on ESPN’s “College Gameday” he referred to as Jones “McEnroe” due to his tennis background and due to his penchant for getting upset on the sector when he made errors.

“I need to call him because I thought we’d graduated from that,” Jones mentioned. “He brings that up every year. Get a new joke or something. Next time I see him I’ll ip him just like he used to ip me.”

Jones credited Saban with serving to him together with his psychological sport.

“I definitely had to work on that and he actually helped me with that,” he mentioned. “I hope the next time he talks about it, he’ll talk about the progress I made from my freshman to sophomore year working with different people and having conversations on how I can get my mental game better.”

Jones’ father Gordon performed tennis at Florida State, his mom Holly performed tennis at Mercer College and his sister Sarah Jane performed at School of Charleston.

Offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak is of the opinion that the actions in tennis are transferable to soccer.

“We happen to think the way a guy moves in tennis and Mac’s tennis background can help you as a thrower,” Kubiak mentioned.

Jones mentioned his father had him simulating serves to assist his soccer throwing movement and located the footwork comparable as properly.

“You can be playing on clay and you slide around or you’re playing on a hardcourt and be firm with your footing,” Jones mentioned. “Running to the ball, you’ve got to have some hand-eye coordination. It’s all reaction-based. I haven’t played tennis in a while but I do feel like it helps me.”

Initially Printed: October 9, 2025 at 5:13 PM PDT