It's no secret the San Francisco 49ers have been banged up beyond belief this season, and they were once again down several starters on Thursday night in their NFC West showdown with the rival Los Angeles Rams, a list that obviously included quarterback Brock Purdy.
Purdy, of course, reaggravated the toe injury that kept him out of action for Weeks 2 and 3 in this past Sunday's 26-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, thus once again putting Mac Jones under center.
And just like he did the previous two times Purdy sat out, Jones stepped up and led the Niners to a win, completing 33 of 49 passes for 342 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the 26-23 overtime victory, thus earning a 100.9 passer rating. And that was while dealing with an injury of his own, as he was clearly battling knee issues throughout the game. And that was also without the services of Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings.
In his three starts this season, Jones has now connected on 66.7 percent of his passes for 905 yards (his 301.7 yards per game rank first in the league) with six touchdowns against just one interception.
Naturally, given how well Jones has played, the term "quarterback controversy" has been thrown around quite a bit over the past few weeks, and there was certainly much more of that chatter following Thursday night's happenings.
But Jones wants no part of any such conversation, as he explained in his postgame press conference:
"They brought me here to play as a backup, and that’s my job,” Jones said. “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 at full health, he cares about this team.
"So, I’m just trying to get some wins for him so it helps us down the line, and 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 there and win, because at the end of the season, that could be the hit or miss between a playoff or not."
So, there you have it. And that's such a fantastic attitude to have, especially for someone who, as he pointed out, has been a full-time starter in this league. Backups never know when they're going to have to step in and deliver, but they obviously always have to ready to go at a moment's notice. And Jones has certainly delivered for the 49ers.
And if Purdy, who's currently week to week with his toe ailment, can't go when San Francisco returns to action in Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jones will simply step in and attempt to get his team another win.