INGLEWOOD, Calif., — The 49ers were 8.5 point underdogs going into their Thursday night clash with the Los Angeles Rams but that might have motivated San Francisco even more. 

After the 49ers’ thrilling 26-23 overtime win, quarterback Mac Jones shared that not being favored had irked coach Kyle Shanahan. While Jones did not know what the odds makers had said, he felt Shanahan’s inspired energy.

“I don’t really do social media that much, but Kyle came up to me and he was pissed about it,” Jones recalled after the game with  a smirk and a little bit of a laugh. “So he’s like, ‘Dude, I can’t believe they moved us to underdogs again.’

“I am like, ‘I don’t know what that means really, but yeah, let’s go kill ’em.’ He was pissed about it. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m pissed too.’”

It is understandable why people outside of team headquarters didn’t give Shanahan and his team a chance considering they were going to be without Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings and Nick Bosa.

In the absence of Kittle, tight end Jake Tonges was on the field for a whopping 63 of the 49ers’ offense’s 86 plays. Kittle, who is eligible to return in Week 6, suffered a hamstring injury in San Francisco’s season opener and was placed on injured reserve with Tonges admirably stepping in.

“Not a lot of people gave us a chance today so I’m super proud of the way guys stepped up, it’s awesome,” Tonges said. “Yeah you see them on social media and stuff, the talk shows, people picking against us. You’re aware of it, you try not to pay it much mind.

Christian McCaffrey is one of the players that has been carrying a heavy load on the offense with so many top players out, and he’s not the only one. The All-Pro ball carrier was impressed by the mettle of his teammates given the short week and absence of key players.

“I don’t know what the odds makers are, but I do know I love this team,” McCaffrey said. “I love the character of this team. It’s hard, you’ve got guys who are changing positions on a short week and having to learn an offense, and they just showed up a couple of weeks ago.

“That’s not easy and you’ve got a quarterback who is fighting through some stuff and getting the nod on a Monday on a short week. There’s so many things that happen in a week. The NFL is the best reality show, there are so many things that happen throughout a week and it makes it so entertaining. But for us players, you go out there and give it your all and whatever happens, happens. When you’re on a team like this with this kind of character, it makes it a lot of fun.”

Rookie defensive lineman Mykel Williams might have said it best when asked about the naysayers. At he end of the day, the first-round pick emphasized that the only thing that matters is the scoreboard after the game clock reads zeros.

“We heard that, but you see the end result so, ha,” Williams said. “We did what we had to do to get the dub. It doesn’t speak to [anything] but the character of our defense. We are just a great defense.”

Mykel Williams has a message for the 49ers’ doubters 🤣 👋 pic.twitter.com/v2biszEBro

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 3, 2025

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