SANTA CLARA – Mac Jones is grateful to finally have made his 49ers debut Saturday, but he won’t dwell on how things ended.
The San Francisco quarterback’s first drive in red and gold – and first of the game – resulted in a touchdown as he and the offense got going early. But things took a dramatic turn the rest of the way for Jones, as the offense didn’t gain more than 3 yards with him under center.
While 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan admitted it was frustrating that the offense didn’t score any more points in their 30-9 preseason loss to the Denver Broncos, he’s happy with how Jones performed overall.
“Mac seemed like he performed well,” Shanahan said postgame. “I liked how we came out. It was a challenge, especially going against that defense that had a bunch of guys out there, too. I loved the first drive. The next one, I think we went three and out, but I was happy with Mac today.”
Jones’ day was done after just three drives and 15 plays, something Shanahan said was planned, and he finished the game 4 of 7 for 74 yards with one interception. Jones’ pass intended for rookie wide receiver Jordan Watkins was picked off by Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian, which Shanahan later said happened after Watkins got confused on the route.
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That’s how Jones saw it, too, but the quarterback knows those are the kind of mistakes that happen in preseason action as new guys continue to get well acclimated with one another.
“I have to watch it, but I know what I saw on the field was just the safety kind of went to the right, so I had the 1-on-1,” Jones explained postgame. “And me and him are, he’s a rookie, right, so we’re working on our timing and everything. And I thought he played well overall, and made a great play on that down the field throw early in the game to kind of set the tempo of the game.
“But he’s doing a good job in practice. I feel like we’re connecting a lot in practice, and we’ll just continue to grow. It’s his first NFL game, and I thought he did a good job.”
Watkins completed his day with three receptions for 56 yards and 3 yards on the ground.
Quarterback Carter Bradley came into the game to replace Jones, and then Tanner Mordecai finished signal-caller duties in the fourth quarter.
Last year, Brandon Allen and Joshua Dobbs battled for the backup quarterback job. This year, Jones appears to already have that advantage over the other guys, but Shanahan isn’t ruling anything out.
“Yeah, we’ll just keep going through it. But I mean, I feel fortunate to have Mac. I think Mac is a good quarterback. I think he’s done some really good things in this league. He’s had a hell of a camp with us and did a real good job today.
“It’s always hard when you’re having the two and the three compete. They got to split those reps, and that’s what we’ve been through here last year. But we kind of have much more of an idea now, where one is obviously, where two is of our three and four.”
Jones said his goal is to focus on his footwork and reads, something he acknowledged is going to take time regardless of what offense you’re in, adding he knows he has a lot of room to grow. Specifically in the 49ers’ complex system, though, a system other backups have had a difficult time adjusting to, Jones feels comfortable with the offense, and vice versa.
“Every day you learn something new in the system,” Jones said. “You get the chance to go out there and play in the game and kind of just feel things out. And it’s my first time taking real snaps in this offense, so I’m looking forward to the growth that all of us will be able to do.
“I definitely want to play better and put more points out there. And that’s that’s all you can do, is kind of just take it day by day and see how you can do better. So I’m looking forward to the challenge of getting better each day.”
Jones said he’ll watch film and learn from his mistakes, but it isn’t difficult for him to put the bad stuff to bed. His process includes having conversations with coaches and playmakers to go over the things that went wrong and what they can do to fix them, noting it’s his job as a quarterback to “open communication” with the offense and coaches.
That includes starting quarterback Brock Purdy, who gave Jones some pointers after he threw the interception Saturday. But Jones said Purdy mostly gives the backups their space while encouraging them from afar.
In the end, Jones will look back at his 49ers debut with a grain of salt. And with a whole lot of gratitude.
“It felt pretty good just to get back to playing football,” Jones said. “I was talking to some of the guys, it’s just been a minute since everyone’s played football, a real game. For me, I’m on a new team again, and you just get more comfortable as time goes along. Definitely started off fast against their [No. 1] defense, which is good. I felt like the guys answered the question there, and we just really have to play better, me, in the second other two drives.
“The good news is we get another chance next week to go out there and do it.”
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