The San Francisco 49ers have lost a number of key players to injuries early this season, including Brock Purdy, who had missed two of the team’s first three games of the year due to a toe injury.

In his place, Mac Jones started and defeated the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals, and while Purdy returned for a Week 4 battle with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he clearly wasn’t playing at full health and he led the team to their first loss of the year.

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Jones returned as the starter on Thursday in a crucial NFC West matchup with the Los Angeles Rams and did a great job, completing 67.3% of his passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns with a 100.9 passer rating on his way to his third win as a starter in 2025.

It’s unclear how much time Purdy will miss, but as long as Jones is healthy, he’ll be the starter in the meantime. After Thursday’s win, Jones was asked if he sees himself as the starter of this team going forward, and he gave a perfect answer.

“I think they brought me here to play as a backup and that’s my job,” Jones said. “Brock is the starter of this team. 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 at full health, it shows that he cares about this team. I’m just trying to get some wins for him, so it helps us down the line. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. I’ve been in his position. I’ve been a starter, and you want your backup to go in and there win because, at the end of the season, that could be the hit-or-miss between the playoffs or not.”

Jones will likely earn points with fans, Purdy and the coaching staff with that one, as he shows his humility and dedication to the team. Now, San Francisco has plenty of time to rest up before they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium, and if Purdy can’t go, they’ll be in good hands with Jones under center.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Mac Jones had the perfect answer about possible 49ers QB controversy