QB Mac Jones Press Conference

QB Mac Jones

Press Conference – August 6, 2026

San Francisco 49ers

Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris was talking about QB Brock Purdy at practice, he likes to call him the layer king. Do you call him that as well?

“The layer king? I like that. Kind of like a lizard king or something. Yeah, Brock does a good job of that. I think Raheem, he’s had some issues with that in the past, people, quarterbacks in the NFL doing that, so maybe he has some scars.”

How do you feel so far about training camp?

“Good. I like training camp. I think it’s good just to get around all the guys and it’s never going to be perfect. I like the season a lot better. It’s what I’m really good at, is preparing for games and being ready to go in there at any time. And training camp is fun because it’s a lot of challenges and different, unscouted looks and things that you don’t normally see. So, I think it’s a good challenge and I don’t think training camp tells you how your season is going to go, but I think it’s good to have mistakes, but also good plays too. So, you can never overreact or underreact to it. Not that it’s not important, but I really enjoy the games.”

How different is this defense that you’re going against from a schematic standpoint?
“Yeah, it’s pretty different. I played against Raheem last year, you know, as the quarterback against the Falcons, so kind of familiar with it and what he did in L.A. so there’s a little bit of everything in that regard and a lot more match coverage, so the throws are a lot more contested. I’d say that some teams in the league play that way, but a lot of teams don’t now. So, it’s kind of an interesting balance. But yeah, it’s been a good challenge. They bring a lot of pressure too on third down, so it’s a little different than what we’ve been used to. But I think they’re doing a great job over there. I like Raheem’s personality. He has a good personality and, I don’t know, it seems like he’s a good coach you’d want to play for.”

I know he’s missed a couple days here, but with WR De’Zhaun Stribling, is there a combination of size and speed that he has where you’re kind of getting both that you maybe didn’t have in the receiver room even last year or this year?
“Definitely. Yeah, I call him the Flyin’ Hawaiian because he’s so fast. But he definitely is fast, but some guys, they can be really quick, but they’re not as strong, so he has both. I don’t have a comp for him yet, but I think he’ll be a really good player. And obviously, got a chance to throw to him in the offseason a little bit, when we went to Nashville. And I don’t know, just the way he got to the ball when it’s in the air was impressive. He has like a second gear when the ball’s in the air. Some guys are really fast, but when the ball goes up and your eyes go up, you slow down, but he doesn’t do that, so it’s pretty impressive. And we’ve got a few guys that are like that, [WR] Jordan Watkins, and obviously [WR] Mike Evans is one of the best at it. So, you want to have guys like that and speed is good, but you want ball speed where the ball’s in the air that you don’t slow down. So he has that.”

You said you like Raheem’s personality. What stands out to you about just that personality and just how he carries himself?

“He’s awesome. I think he doesn’t take the game too seriously. I think that’s important. Obviously, it’s a very serious game, but you want to also have fun with it and he’s going to talk smack and when he gets beat, he kind of just rolls it off his shoulder because he knows there’s a next play. So, I really like his personality in meetings. I walk by him every day and talk crap to him and stuff. He’s definitely been a head coach and I think he’s trying to find his feet back here. And I feel like he’ll be back in the head coaching spot soon.”

How are you adjusting to the other targets in the wide receiver room? Obviously new faces out there, you spoke on Stribling but with him being out and Evans also being out the last few days, how are you adjusting to the other guys?
“Yeah, it’s been interesting, I think. It’s good. I think everyone’s kind of a melting pot of people. And we got young guys and old guys, and like you said, [WR] Christian [Kirk], Mike, and Stribling weren’t out there, but it’s good for these young guys to step up and make plays, and I need to do a better job getting them the ball and letting them show what they can do. But I feel like they’ve all flashed in different ways. Like even [WR] Junior Bergen, going out there, knowing what to do, playing fast, all that stuff. So there’s a long list of guys, I could go through each one of them, but I’ve been impressed with their work ethic and our system is complex, so I’m not expecting them to get it in one day or one week or even one month. It takes a whole, all the way through the season because our game plans are very different each week and that’s the challenge is being ready for that.”

What growth have you seen from Jordan Watkins last year compared to this year?

“Yeah, I really like Jordan. He’s one of my good buddies on the team and he’s always got a good attitude. He just goes out there and runs fast. With us, we’re very similar because we’re hard on ourselves. So, like, if he has a bad play, I always try to, like, go up to him and be like, ‘Hey, play the next play. It’s all good.’ Similar with me, if I have a bad play, I want him to do the same and we kind of have that relationship. So, for him, it’s just playing that next play as best he can, and he’s done a better job of that this training camp, and he’s really fast and has a lot of talent and has played in a lot of big-time football in college so, you know that he has what it takes to be really good.”

We know you guys have talked about not really missing a beat and a veteran locker room, dealing with not having your head coach, but has it been weird? What’s it been like for you guys sort of adjusting to what head coach Kyle Shanahan’s been going through and that whole process?

“Yeah, I think it’s good. I think it’s a good challenge in its own way. I think everything will be fine and great in the long run. But nothing’s been too different. I feel like this organization is run very smoothly whether Kyle’s at the top or somebody else. I think he’s set it up that way, so really he’s been out there, he’s been talking to us, so I’m hopeful that he can recover all the way. And for us, it’s just keep battling every day. It’s camp. We’re kind of getting to that middle part and we’ll get to the exciting parts playing in the games and stuff. But as a team, I feel like the energy’s there. And like you said, we got a lot of good old guys on this football team. Not old, but older. I guess I’m approaching that area. But I think it’s good. I think you want those guys and this season, it’s not going to be easy – maybe we don’t start great or we do. It doesn’t matter, but you want that head leadership to be there and that’s Kyle and all the veteran coaches and then all the veteran players that have been through a lot of seasons.”

How different is it having offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak in your ear during practice though? And just in terms of not even just the play calls, but like the feedback that you get versus what you get from Kyle?

“Yeah, it’s good. I think Klay, like, sometimes he mumbles a little bit. So, I’m just trying to hear what he says. But no, he’s amazing. He does a great job just getting us ready for practice. Right now, it’s just hard because we don’t have an exact call sheet. So it’s like you have the whole library of plays and just trying to hear, like, ‘did he say that?’ Is that a play we’re going to run? So, I need to do a better job there. But, Klay’s called a lot of plays in the preseason and obviously during the season too, he’s gotten a chance to call some games. So, he has really good experience and he’s a very good coach. He’s clear when he stands in front of the team about what he wants. Like today, he called us up at the beginning of practice was like, ‘Hey,’ he kind of felt like a little bit of an energy lull, and Klay was like, ‘Let’s get this going.’ So as players, I need to respond better to that, but I think we did overall as a team. We made some big plays today. So that was just a good example of, like, he has good x’s and o’s, but he’s also really good with how he talks to the team too, so you want to have both.”

You’re still hearing Kyle a lot more though, right? Like, he’s standing closer to the team behind the offense. Are you just hearing his voice a lot more? The pointers after plays and things like that?

“Yeah, Kyle’s always been involved. I’d say compared to other teams I’ve been on, as a head coach, it’s obviously his offense, and he understands it all, and I think he wants us to take it to the next level of how can we get this even better? So, he’s always voicing things and asking us and not necessarily telling us, asking us, ‘Hey, do you think you can get this done?’ And we either can or we can’t, but that’s the whole point of training camp, is to try. And during the season, it’s completely different – he’s in all the meetings and has a chance to sit down in our quarterback room, and we go through each play and the problems and all that. So, he does a great job. He’s still doing a great job of that. Just training camp is, like I said, it’s more of a widespread net versus one individual game plan.”

Is he in the meetings with you guys yet?

“Yeah, he’s been around. He’s doing a good job, like I said, recovering. I don’t know. You’d have to ask him how he feels overall, but I feel like he’s doing normal Kyle stuff.”

When you’re getting a play call that’s going to be a deep shot, a deep throw. Do you get excited to air it out?

“No. I don’t really get excited. I think you have to play each play and during the games, if you have too high of a pulse, it’s sometimes a bad thing. Deep balls in practice are fun, but sometimes it’s not realistic, I guess. So, you have to just play it as a real play. There was one today I had a chance to throw it deep, I had to move, and then threw an interception, so it’s like, that messes up the timing of the play. So, you just have to play each play how it is, but my goal is to just try and get it to the right read, and yeah, I’d say lower your pulse. Whether it’s a screen pass or a Hail Mary, you can’t get too excited or not excited because sometimes that puts too much zip on the ball or whatever, everyone’s different.”

How much of a difference do you sense with LB Dre Greenlaw being back there with LB Fred Warner?

“Oh, yeah. Definitely feel the defense and their energy. And you’ve got Raheem yelling random stuff in the background. So yeah, it’s quite the challenge. I don’t know if he’ll be able to stand on the field on game day, but Fred is obviously our main guy, and Dre’s been out there too, and [LB Garret] Wallow’s done a great job and [LB Luke Gifford] Giff, so we got a lot of veteran guys that played a lot of football, but I think those are definitely the energy makers over there. [CB Upton] Stout too, like, Stout’s one of my favorite guys. He’s just, he is who he is. He’s not going to change and in practice today, like he gets chippy and he wants to just make plays.”

Have you seen a difference in CB Renardo Green’s play this year?

“Yeah. I do. I think Nardo went through some things last year, whatever you want to call it. He’s a pro though. He came back and he’s played his technique really well. He’s made a lot of contested plays, him and the Hyena [DB Deommodore Lenoir]. And then [CB] Jack Jones, too, who I’ve played with in the past. Like, those guys are all aggressive corners. I feel like there’s a lot more plays being made on the ball compared to last year, which is a good thing. Just contested plays. So, they’ve done a great job over there, and I’m excited to see him in a real game and see what it looks like.”

Is Raheem more vocal in practices than Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh was?

“Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Saleh’s pretty chill. Like he would just stand back there and look all strong and stuff. And then Raheem, maybe not as strong looking, but definitely a louder voice. But yeah, they’re very similar and schematics are obviously different, but they’re both great coaches, so.”