Mac Jones is about to get one of the clearest preseason spotlights in the league, and it comes at a time when the San Francisco 49ers have very little reason to treat Thursday night like a dress rehearsal.
Kyle Shanahan has already said the Niners are unlikely to play most of their starters in the preseason opener against the visiting Tennessee Titans, which should put Jones in line for the first few drives. That would normally be a routine backup-quarterback assignment. Not this time.
Jones is expected to work mostly with San Francisco’s B-team group, and the challenge gets a little sharper because Robert Saleh said Tennessee plans to field a good chunk of its first- and second-string units. That makes this more than just an early-August tune-up. It’s a real test against better resistance.
The bigger picture matters here, too. Jones is under contract as a free agent in 2027, and if he wants to rebuild or raise his market value, he needs usable tape.
The 49ers chose not to move him to a quarterback-needy team earlier this offseason, so any chance at a more lucrative deal elsewhere is still on the shelf. For now, the film he puts together in preseason is part of the case he’ll eventually have to make.
He already helped himself last season, when he steadied San Francisco during Brock Purdy’s injury absence and helped the team go 5-3 while completing nearly 70 percent of his passes. But in a league that lives by the latest evidence, that’s not enough to carry him forever.
There have also been reports that Jones didn’t have the strongest training camp. Still, practice chatter only goes so far. What happens against the Titans will matter more than anything said off the field.
If Jones strings together a clean, productive outing on Thursday night, he gives himself exactly what he needs: better film, better momentum, and a stronger case for whatever comes next.
In Other News...
49ers Suddenly Have Two Injury Concerns Fans Need To Watch
Kyle Shanahans injury report after the preseason opener gave the 49ers a little more to monitor than they would prefer this early in camp. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke exited with a rib injury, and the team was cautious enough to send him to the hospital for evaluation, although the initial X-rays came back negative. It was the sort of checkup that can calm some fears while still leaving the door open for more concern as the week unfolds.
Cornerback Nate Hobbs added to that uneasy feel when he went down with a groin injury during joint practice, another reminder that the preseason can change a depth chart in a hurry. Hobbs is expected to miss a few weeks, and he is not the only player dealing with a health issue, with Jack Jones, Nick Martin and Marques Sigle also on the injury list. For a team trying to sort out roles and preserve momentum, the main question now is how many of these absences linger into the start of the season. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Preseason Opener Put Two Early Depth Concerns In Focus
The preseason opener in Tennessee offered the 49ers an early look at how their depth is holding up while several key players stayed out of uniform. It was the first real chance for the coaching staff to sort through backups, young players and fringe roster hopefuls in a game setting, with the live updates tracking the kind of miscues, penalties and flashes that tend to shape August evaluations more than the scoreboard does.
For San Francisco, the most useful part of the night may have been seeing where the thin spots show up when the rotations get deeper and the pace quickens. The play-by-play told a story of a team still sorting out its second unit on both sides of the ball, and the kind of early preseason test that can clarify which positions need the most attention before the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]