The San Francisco 49ers (6-4) have accomplished a rare feat in 2025 by winning the majority of their games despite only having their starting quarterback available for two of them.
The reason: Veteran backup Mac Jones is playing like a quality starter and has powered the 49ers to a handful of wins in place of franchise signal-caller Brock Purdy.
Purdy is inching closer toward a long overdue return, though. It won't be long before he's ready to reclaim his place in San Francisco's lineup, but might coach Kyle Shanahan be tempted to ride the hot hand in Jones?
"No. It's not a hard decision," Shanahan said. "It's just more about Brock's health. It's been awesome how Mac has played. He has been great. But we've got a lot of confidence in Brock and we know Brock will play at a high level too as long as he's healthy."
Purdy suffered a toe injury in the 49ers' thrilling Week 1 win in Seattle, missed Weeks 2 and 3, returned ahead of schedule for San Francisco's Week 4 loss to Jacksonville and realized he'd pushed himself too hard, taking the next six weeks to recover, rehab and work toward returning.
Over the last month, each Friday has included a question regarding Purdy's status: Might this be the week the newly paid signal-caller returns?
The answer has largely been the same: Purdy is progressing toward returning, but Jones will continue as the 49ers' starter.
Jones has made the decision easy for Shanahan thanks to his performances, which have often required courage and toughness to play through his own physical ailments. His greatest achievement came in Week 5 when he powered the 49ers to an upset win over the Rams on Thursday Night Football, battling through an obviously bothersome knee injury to lead San Francisco to the road triumph. All the while, Jones has remained available to guide the 49ers, oscillating between the roles of game manager and thriving passer depending on the week and matchup.
The effort has been commendable, but it won't be enough to unseat Purdy. It will be up to Purdy, however, to ensure his challenging road back to the field won't limit him once he does return.
"No. We haven't talked about that," Shanahan said when asked if he'd talked to Purdy about avoiding pressing once he returns. "Things we've talked about are just making sure when you come back that you feel 100 percent, so you don't have to worry about anything like that. If Brock's feeling 100 percent and confident in that way, then I think he's got nothing to worry about on a game."
Purdy's absence has seemed unusually long, but a toe injury can limit much of what a quarterback can accomplish. Shanahan revealed he could see that Purdy was limited by the toe injury all the way back in Week 4 and accepted Purdy needed time to properly recover before retaking the reins of the offense.
Now, it sounds as if Purdy is nearing that milestone ahead of San Francisco's Week 11 game against Arizona. He'll likely be happy to return to a team that, despite playing without him, remains in the thick of a playoff race.
