The 49ers’ Week 2 meeting with the Dolphins looks like the kind of game San Francisco should control, but it may also double as something more practical: a chance to remind the league what Mac Jones can still do.
Brock Purdy is already off to a start that has him looking like an early MVP candidate, and the 49ers are coming in on the heels of their win over the Rams. Even so, the first week of the season in Australia came at a cost.
Alfred Collins and Jake Tonges are out for the season because of injuries, while rookie De’Zhaun Stribling is reportedly headed for a layoff of close to 10 games. With the depth chart thinning fast, San Francisco could be better served by getting Jones real work in Week 2.
Jones has already shown he can be useful in this system. After a rocky start to his career with the Patriots and Jaguars, he found steadier footing as Purdy’s backup last season. In eight spot starts, he threw 13 touchdowns against six interceptions and helped the 49ers to five wins.
That matters because Jones remains a name worth monitoring. There was talk during the offseason that San Francisco might try to move him for a significant return, which made sense with Purdy expected to open healthy and the team potentially able to turn Jones into future draft capital. Nothing came together, though, and Jones stayed on the 53-man roster.
The 49ers have already seen this kind of turnaround story before. Jones followed the same general path as Sam Darnold, who looked like a lost quarterback before spending a year under Kyle Shanahan.
Darnold’s breakout in Minnesota and his Super Bowl season in Seattle were described as nothing short of miraculous. Jones, for his part, looked rejuvenated in San Francisco last year, and the idea that he could build on that revival hasn’t gone away.
If the 49ers are still open to trading him, the timing may be right to revisit it. Adding depth at tight end, wide receiver, or on the defensive line would make sense, and the team clearly needs help in other spots as injuries pile up. Even if Jones doesn’t fetch the kind of return San Francisco once imagined, he could still be useful as a piece that helps offset the early damage.
Week 2 might be the cleanest stage to do that. The 49ers are a double-digit favorite, while the Dolphins were just blown out by the middling Raiders.
Purdy will start, but Jones could get second-half snaps and put some fresh numbers on tape. If the game gets out of hand, he’d have a chance to pad the box score.
There may not be many quarterback-needy teams right now, but that can change quickly. Quarterbacks get hurt every year, and one injury in the wrong place can change a season in a hurry.
If that happens, Jones could become a tempting trade piece, especially if he gets a chance Sunday to work against a Dolphins secondary that has already been described as pitiful. For San Francisco, that could mean value down the line, whether it comes back as draft picks or roster help.
In Other News...
Brandon Aiyuk Trade Buzz Raises Another 49ers Question
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From San Franciscos perspective, it is another reminder that Aiyuks situation could keep drawing attention until it is settled, even if the destination chatter is doing more work than the facts themselves. The Patriots may have a short-term need after Browns injury, but their current receiver group is considered sufficient, which is why this feels more like a question being raised than a move that should actually happen. [Read more 🡒]
49ers May Have Found The Rookie Who Can Ease McCaffreys Burden
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Kyle Shanahans praise afterward centered less on one breakout performance than on the habits that got Black there in the first place. The coach pointed to his preparation, maturity and attentiveness, saying those traits helped make Black ready for the moment and professional enough to handle it. For San Francisco, the larger question is whether that trust keeps growing as the season moves on, because a reliable second runner could ease the burden McCaffrey has shouldered for so long. [Read more 🡒]
Kaepernick Just Reopened A 49ers Era Story Fans Will Remember
Colin Kaepernicks new memoir, *The Perilous Fight*, arrived on Sept. 15 with the kind of personal reflections that tend to pull old 49ers storylines back into the conversation. Alongside anecdotes about Taylor Swift and his adoptive mother, Kaepernick used the book to revisit familiar ground for San Francisco fans, the era when his name could still dominate the NFL discussion for reasons that went far beyond the field.
A day later, he kept that spotlight on himself in a podcast interview, taking aim at Patriots owner Robert Kraft over the removal of rapper Macklemore from Ed Sheerans tour and arguing that NFL owners work together to protect their own interests. It was also another reminder that Kaepernicks grievance with the league remains unresolved, even as his view of how owners cooperate has continued to evolve. [Read more 🡒]