It’s a good problem! – Cam Newton sees NO ISSUE with the 49ers’ brewing QB competition | First Take

It’s a good problem! – Cam Newton sees NO ISSUE with the 49ers’ brewing QB competition | First Take

won for the Los Angeles Rams. San Francisco 49ers improving to 4-1 RC after 2623 victory on Thursday night. So you hear Shawn McVey there accountability. He said it was on him. He didn’t even give thought to kicking the field goal there. Do you agree with the fourth down decision to run it there? Yeah, I agree with whatever Shawn McVey does. Shawn McVey is a made man to me and this is the team that was averaging 4.6 yards a carry. This is the team that is up by a touchdown early on or or late in the fourth quarter. if Kron Williams doesn’t allow Alfred Williams to punch the football out. And the way that they got to this play call was trying to see when we put 11 personnel on the field. That’s one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers, how are the San Francisco 49ers going to match us? Are they going to bring out an extra DB, which they did? You bring out Chase Lucas to play the nickel position. You got one of the best blocking wide receivers in all of football in Puka Nua. to bring in Jordan Winn who is an absolute beast and a stud and a physical player and sometimes you got to go win. Sometimes your men have to move the other men on the opposite side of the football and the Los Angeles Rams didn’t do that. Shawn McVey didn’t make Blake Cororm drop a pitch. He didn’t make Kron Williams fumble the ball headed into the end zone. He didn’t allow a punt or a field goal to be blocked again after seeing that same thing happen against the Philadelphia Eagles. That’s on Chase Blackburn, right? That’s on the interior of the field goal team. And so to me, this is not a bad call. This is a call you make. This is a call you make because you’ve studied, because you’ve watched Kairen Williams run the football and your players got to go out there and make a play. Cam, riddle me this because Matthew Stafford was cooking in the fourth quarter and especially in that overtime period when he’s throwing the ball to Tutu Atwell to to everybody at that point. Everything was good. I was cool with it if they wanted to throw it there, but are you okay with the fourth down decision as is? The fourth down decision going for it, I am fine with it. Sean McVey knows that you go into each and every game to win. I’m good with the decision to go for it. I’m not good with the decision to give it to 59, 202bs. Yes, a Pro Bowler, but at the same time, go to the hot hand. What about that? Hey, what about one of the most talented quarterbacks in the game today in Matthew Stafford? Hey, what about your allp pro receiver in Devonte Adams? Hey, how about one of the uh uh uh league’s MVP candidates leading into this game and Puka Nakua. I mean, what about that? I mean, at this at this particular point, Shawn McVey knows what the standard is for him as a head coach. He knows he made a terrible call in that type of situation. But there was a coach that once told me this, a superstar is only a superstar when the game is required for the superstar to be a superstar. You have a lot of superstars. Uh uh Puka Nakua, that’s a lot of superstars there. And you didn’t give one of your superstars an opportunity to make a play. No disrespect to Kiron. You know what I’m saying? But I’m saying if I’m in that situation again, I’m giving it to Matthew Stafford. Let put the ball in his hands. Put the ball into Vonte Adams hands. Put the ball into Puka Nakua’s hands and then we go from there. I’m looking at a situation. I’m looking at film where Puka Nakua gets stalemated at the line of scrimmage and he’s not a blocker. I understand the philosophy and the schematics that you know the the Los Angeles Rams have and what they’ve had for years. They do incorporate their wide receivers in the run game with blocks and and and certain different tactics, but in that situation, fourth and one with the game on the line. No, we got to come up with that. And on top of that, court, on top of that, RC, you had a timeout prior to that play and that’s what you come up with. Oh, come on now. See that that’s the thing though. We’ve gotten into this world where creativity has to reign supreme. And part of Puka Naku’s greatness is his blocking. He’s the best blocking wide receiver in football. That’s actually a really good wide receiver. Everybody else that you bring into the game that blocks like Puka Naku don’t never catch no balls. They don’t ever catch any passes. The reason that he’s so difficult to cover and you can move him around and have him insert into the line of scrimmage and get out into the pass route is because he really do that. Puka Nakua really digs out linebackers. Puka Nakua digs out strong safeties and so I don’t I don’t have a problem with Puka Nakua being there. Now if you want to say that Kairen Williams who just got a contract extension who’s had 1100 yards in the last two season isn’t good enough to get the ball because the other people are better then I have to acquies to the superstar in you Cam. But when you’ve watched the film, when you’re averaging over four and a half yards a carry, when you just saw the fact that Kiren Williams should have walked into the end zone for a touchdown, you are confident in that play. And that’s what I feel Sean McVey leaned on. Well, and that’s where I want to go with it because he fumbles at the goal line. Kyron Williams has a fumbling problem. Let’s call it what it is. Since 2023, seven lost fumbles. That’s the most in the NFL at the running back position. You expect him to not have what you’re seeing on the screen happen. You’re expecting he can pick up one yard in that situation. If it’s fourth and one, the other option, you go under center with Matthew Stafford. Is that a thought that crossed Sean McVeyy’s mind? You brought up his creativity, RC. He’s supposed to be the most creative play caller out there. And I know he took accountability, Cam. I’m cool with that. But the other options we’re talking about here, the other superstars, the margin of error for this Rams team, we saw what happened in that Eagles game. It comes down to two blocked field goals. We saw some special teams things happen last night as well that cost them the missed extra point. How do you view this Rams team today, Cam? Knowing what this game could have been very easily had they been able to do the small things like pick up a yard. Yeah, I’m with you, Court. So, peep this. I’mma give you three situations that will back my merit. uh special teams issues, ball security issues, coaching call issues. Two of the first three options that I gave you, if they just are average just with doing that, we’re saying that the Los Angeles Rams are undefeated team going into week six. And it could very well be that type of situation. And when I’m looking around the NFL, and RC, you know this better than anybody you know that I have the opportunity to talk alongside with on a week- toeek basis. When you have opportunities to win, have to win, especially early on in the season. When you find ways to say, “Hey, this is our time to put the game away. This is our time to win in any type of demographic inside the five uh uh uh late game field goals.” And then you have Shawn McVey, which we know that this is not a normaly for him to to make these type of, you know, uh, mistakes or blunders, so to speak. But if the special teams can get it right, if we can protect the football and just do what you’re supposed to do in in in that, we’re undefeated. And you go into a situation where you’re you have a what we call a quote unquote mini buy and you can still get healthy. Just the margin of error is so thin. That was the one rush they had all of last night. The Los Angeles Rams that did not gain a yard. But let’s take a look at the other side of this matchup because 49ers are 4-1. M. Jones improved to 3-0 this season, filling in for Brock Pury. He’s led the 49ers to similar success on offense, even scoring more points than Perie has in his starts. Here’s what Jones had to say postgame about his role on the team. Do you feel like the starting job, you’re you’re the starter now, and that’s just the way you have to view it? Um, I think, you know, they brought me here um to play as a backup and that’s my job and Brock’s the starter of this team and right now he’s dealing with something and for him to go out there last week and play when, you know, he probably wasn’t a full full health like he cares about this team. So, I’m just trying to get some wins for him so it helps us down the line and um at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about. like I’ve been in his position. I’ve been a starter and you want your backup to go in there and win cuz at the end of the season that could be the hit or miss between a playoff or not. Okay, before we get to any football, I got two fashion icons with me here on First Take. What do we think of the half red, half black suit? I wore that in 22. Okay, so you you’ve already you set the t the tone. Yeah. Yeah. 20 in 22 I wore that. Like I got one of those. Uh Cam, do you have one in your closet? So, no. No, I do not of like one of the very few things. But uh for for RC to hit him with it. Yeah, I’ve been I’ve been on that. That was a trend that we you know what I’m saying? That was you know uh uh back in back in the day. You know what I’m saying? Subtle flex though. Okay. I love it. And by the way, we got to I got to give RC a shout out here. Our parlay our cover three hit yesterday. You had the your part of it was McCaffrey plus eight catches 82 yards a touchdown. So everything hit yesterday, which is why you should listen to us to earn you some money. But Cam, we got to drill down here. Is there a quarterback controversy brewing in San Francisco? You know the numbers now with Brock Perie versus M. Jones. What kind of problem, if you want to call it that, does Kyle Shanahan have on his hands now? He has a good problem. And you know what’s funny is history seems to repeat itself. the same the same way you got the spot is almost the same way you’re going to get put out the spot. But I will say this about M. Jones. M. Jones is a starter in this NFL that we know. And he would very well still be a a starter given the circumstances of his performances in New England if they if they wasn’t so up and down up and down. Do I think Brock Par’s uh position as a starter is in jeopardy? Absolutely not. Uh because one thing that we have seen from M. Jones is he will have a game just like this where he throws for 300 plus two touchdowns protecting the football no INTs and then all of a sudden the wheel comes off the wagon and it’s like what what type of Mac was that? Like what are we thinking? So for him the question is how long can I keep this style of play up? And if he does then that’s when we do consider it. But for Brock Par to be in this situation, I do not think that, you know, John Lynch and, you know, the coaching staff, Strahan, is looking at a situation where Shanahan, I’m sorry, is looking at a situation where we’re considering benching our uh starting quarterback for M. Jones. No, absolutely not. You ain’t considering benching him, but you considering telling him, “Take as long as the hell you need in order to be healthy.” Yeah. Because remember, if we if we go back to the Tre Lance draft, there was so much conversation that they had moved up to number three to get M. Jones. Now, I’mma tell you, at that time, I was like, if you move up to number three to draft M. Jones, you’re out of your stinking mind. But we all knew that that was the best place for him. We knew that that could be a fit for him because it’s a fit for every quarterback. And M. Jones is actually a more talented passer of the ball than Brock Party. I’m not saying he’s a better player. What Brock Perie has done there, bringing that team to a Super Bowl, getting the NFC championships two years, the way that he has executed in that offense has been above and beyond what we’ve seen anybody else do, even with Jimmy G and his success. But what we watched M. Jones do last week in a short week, is exactly what you’re looking for from a big time backup. And Cam is right. This dude’s a starter. He was a Pro Bowler early on in his career at the Pats Jacksonville last year. He played eight games down the stretch. That’s when Brian Thomas Jr. was actually his best. And so if I’m Kyle Shanahan, if I’m John Lynch, even with these 10 days, I’m walking up to Brock Perie in the in the locker room, in the training room, and say, “Hey, look, if you ain’t perfect, we ain’t tripping. If you need time, it’s all good.” Cuz not only did M. Jones perform at a high level last night, Kendrick Bourne was his number one receiver. Kendrick Bourne had two or three drops the week before against Jacksonville. and he went to him time and time and time again. No Ricky Pawol, no Jawan Jennings, no George KD, and you still find a way to perform at that height against that front and that defense, you ain’t got a Well, you know what? You might have a problem. And like Cam said, it’s a good problem. It’s good trouble. 33 of 49, 342 yards, two touchdowns, no interception, 100.9 passer rating. Pretty good for M. Jones. And by the way, you saw that knee brace underneath his uniform. He was battling through his own banged up knee yesterday. Knee, his knee brace and whole uniform game is stank. The the entire thing is not stink. My dog My dog was out there balling. My boy was cramping up. He on the sideline eating bananas. They massaging cramps out of his arm. Listen, he was dehydrated as dehydrated gets. But that’s another thing. That’s a level of toughness you need from a QB. Yeah. I I me knowing Matt, right? And for everybody who has not understood who I am and what my resume indicates, I was no longer needed in New England because of M. Jones. And when I see M. Jones and how he has transformed his game, I always knew personally seeing firsthand that M. Jones is extremely talented and does have, you know, a very unique skill set in throwing the football. I think the thing that was always in question about Mac. Jones is is this the real M. Jones? Is he a robot? Is he just going by the tunes of just, you know, being a puppet, you know, with those type of things? And those are strong words. When you start to have conversations in in in in different meeting rooms and you start to see like, bro, you hey, you a dope dude, dog, like you pretty cool. Show that to your team. Don’t show the super serious person. So when I’m seeing even the highlights yesterday, he’s having fun. You see him, you know what I’m saying, putting on a celebration after the dude kind of I want to see that. M. Jones is a person that has quote unquote been institutionalized because these were his coaches. Nick Sabin, no nonsense. Bill Bellichic, no nonsense. So for him, he’s like, “Okay, I don’t have to be the principal, but I almost got to be the counselor.” And when you’re talking about in this NFL, you have to thrive off authenticity. And when I see what I saw from M. Jones and what I’m seeing from M. Jones, that confidence is what’s going to keep him in that specific position of is he a starter? Does he have the capabilities of doing these type of things? And that’s what you love to see. I don’t know that he seemed like he was pretty loose last night wearing that suit game. You don’t wear that if you have a backup mindset. [Music]

On First Take, Ryan Clark, Cam Newton and Joe Fortenbaugh react to the Los Angeles Rams’ 4th down decision in overtime in Week 5 before discussing the San Francisco 49ers’ QB situation.

0:00 Did you agree with the Rams’ call on 4th down in overtime?
7:40 What are your thoughts on Mac Jones’ postgame fit?
9:26 Is there a QB competition brewing with the 49ers?
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