Over the course of his 18 year NFL career, veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell has sacked over 50 different quarterbacks. But you could make the case that as the Arizona Cardinals prepare for Week 3 battle with the San Francisco 49ers, Campbell’s midweek takedown of 49ers backup quarterback Mac Jones was even more brutal than some of the hits on the gridiron that resulted in a loss of yards.
During an appearance on The Insiders, Calais Campbell was asked whether he’d rather see Jones or Brock Purdy get the start on Sunday afternoon. With a big smile on his face, this is how Campbell responded:
“Do you want a truthful answer? The truthful answer is I’d much rather play against Mac Jones. It’s a not a shot because Mac is a first round talent. He just hasn’t been in that offense a long time,” Campbell said, doing his best to avoid ending up on a bulletin board inside of San Francisco’s locker room.
“With Brock, he’s a master of that offense. He can make it go,” Campbell added. “I’m willing to play whoever they put in front of me, we’ll go out there and earn it. But I think we have a little bit of an advantage with a quarterback who hasn’t been there as long in an offense versus someone who is a master of it.”
Calais Campbell, Cardinals Know There Is A Big Difference Between Brock Purdy and Mac Jones
Calais Campbell’s reasoning is perfectly justifiable, and in any instance, if you put any player on truth serum, they would tell you that they would take any advantage they could on gameday. But it’s not just that Brock Purdy has more experience in a Kyle Shanahan offense than Mac Jones does. Jones may be a former first round pick and Purdy may be Mr. Irrelevant, but Purdy has garnered legitimate MVP consideration while Jones went from starter to backup overnight.
With the exception of a promising debut season with the New England Patriots that resulted in a runner-up finish in the 2021 Rookie of the Year voting, Mac Jones‘ career hasn’t lived up to the expectations put on him as the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Since that 10-7 first season, Jones is 11-22 as a starter in the NFL, but it is important to note, he’s 1-0 in a 49ers uniform.
Call it the Kyle Shanahan bump if you want, but Jones looked more than serviceable in San Francisco’s Week 2 win over the New Orleans Saints last Sunday. In for Purdy — who is still dealing with toe injury and will likely miss Week 3’s showdown with Arizona — Jones completed 26 of 39 pass attempts for 279 yards and 3 touchdowns last weekend. At the very least, it was a good sign for the 49ers assuming Purdy needs more time to recover.
But with that being said, Mac Jones isn’t Brock Purdy, and as Campbell notes, Purdy has multiple years of experience in the San Francisco 49ers system, while Jones’ experience is limited to just a handful of months.
It may only be Week 3, but there’s a chance that this game could end up having postseason implications down the road. The NFC West projects to be one of the most competitive divisions in football, and for now, the Cardinals, 49ers AND Los Angeles Rams remain unbeaten. Any divisional matchup, whether it’s in September or January, will be huge.
Calais Campbell Fires Direct Shot at Mac Jones Ahead of Cardinals, 49ers Clash