San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to bring Mac Jones to Charlotte out of the 2021 NFL draft. It took four seasons, a trade out of New England, and a stop at Jacksonville before the coach finally got the quarterback he’d once envisioned as a franchise cornerstone. But did Jones feel the same way when he joined the team last season?

On the latest edition of Bussin’ With The Boys, Jones was pressed on why he picked the Niners, and whether the staff and system had anything to do with it. Jones chose this moment to talk up his coach.

“Yeah. And trust me, I didn’t have a crazy amount of options to be honest,” Jones said. “I played in Jacksonville, and there was good tape, but it wasn’t consistent like we talked about. People didn’t really know, but Kyle was like, ‘He knows football.’ He’s like, ‘This kid got screwed or whatever you want to call it, and it just didn’t work out. And I can get this kid back on track.’

“I feel like he really saw that. And honestly, we did. And now, I’m going to keep doing that. But I really appreciate it cause it’s always been me and Kyle. I feel like that was always supposed to happen.”

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Mac Jones on Kyle Shanahan helping him turn his career around: “Kyle was like, he knows football and he’s like 'This kid got screwed. I can get this kid back on track'. I feel like he really saw that and honestly he did, and now I’m going to keep doing that. I really appreciate Show more

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3:15 PM · Jul 7, 2026

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Jones’ claim that he “got screwed” lands differently when you go back to his NFL debut. As a rookie New England Patriots starter, he threw for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns, made the Pro Bowl, and took New England to its first postseason in the post-Tom Brady era. He then watched OC Josh McDaniels leave, and his next two years bounced between Matt Patricia and Bill O’Brien before the team shipped him out for a late-round pick.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were supposed to be different. Jones was a hometown kid backing up Trevor Lawrence. He stepped in after Lawrence went to the injury reserve, threw for 1,672 yards and eight touchdowns, and went 2-5 as a starter. All of this happened while the Jags tried to figure out if they’d bought a long-term backup or a reclamation project. The tape showed flashes, but didn’t really answer that question.

So, when Jones finally hit free agency last offseason, he went hunting for structure. He said he saw “a lot of winners” in the 49ers building, called it a “proven system,” and admitted that he wanted to be coached by Kyle Shanahan.

“Obviously, Kyle and his résumé speak for itself,” Jones said at the time. “He’s done a great job in the NFL, and he always produces each year, and that’s something that I want to be around.”

When Brock Purdy went down with the turf toe injury in the season opener last season, that bet on Kyle Shanahan showed up on the field. Jones carried a two-game win streak into Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams, posting a 342-yard, two-touchdown game that ended in a 26-23 overtime win. After that game, Shanahan exclaimed that Jones had just “played his a** off, man.” Highlighting Jones’ ball protection against a good defense, Shanahan added that he “can’t say enough good things about Mac.”

The Patriots and Jaguars kept changing the system under him, then judged him like they hadn’t. But Shanahan’s “kid got screwed” line is a blunt accounting of how those fits damaged the early read on Jones’ career.

Mac Jones and Kyle Shanahan always kept in touch, and they’ve joked about that draft miss since finally pairing up. The difference now is the coach who once wanted him at No. 3 overall is the one giving him the structure Jones had been chasing all this time.