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At the end of his seventh and perhaps final start as a 49er, Mac Jones wasn’t celebrating the imminent victory, he was waving and screaming like a madman to get somebody else in the game.

That is not at all your usual Journeyman Quarterback behavior, but folks, one thing everybody around the 49ers has learned in the last few months is that even though this is his third NFL stop, Jones is not a Journeyman QB. He should and would be a starter in many other places that do not have Brock Purdy already in place. He’s a leader.

And Jones is a perfect fit for the 49ers’ buoyant culture of football obsessives — in this moment he just wanted to get Adrian Martinez onto the field for his first NFL snap at the end of the 49ers’ 34-24 victory over the Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

“Yeah, Kyle (Shanahan) already took his headset off and I’m like, ‘Go Adrian!’ So I just subbed myself out,” Jones recounted to reporters after the game.

Jones also allowed that the coaches probably would’ve sent Martinez in even if Jones wasn’t jumping up and down about it. But there were other QB elements in this, too — Purdy seems close to a return, which not only will knock Jones to QB2 but could mean that Sunday was the last time Martinez will be on the active roster.

So Jones made sure this moment happened. And definitely looked like he was having fun doing it. Looked like he was a real 49er. A happy, thoughtful, and unself-conscious 49er. The best kind of 49er.

“The guys just let me be myself, which is kind of different than what I’ve had in the past,” Jones said of his teammates. “I appreciate that. That takes, like I say, all 33 — all 11 on offense, defense, and special teams. …

“Definitely feel comfortable and I’m not going to lose confidence in myself.”

Yes, seven starts can save a season, revive a career, keep the 49ers in the race with a 6-3 record after Sunday, and put smiles on the faces of every member of the franchise. Seven starts can feel like a journey and a resolution all together.

Of course, it hasn’t been all perfect — just check on the Houston film from last weekend for clarification or his lost fumble at a key moment on Sunday. It hasn’t made anybody in the organization start thinking about keeping Purdy on the bench permanently — his mobility just by itself puts him a level up from even Jones’ best.

But with Purdy battling this toe injury that he suffered in Week 1 and reaggravated three weeks later and with the 49ers needing more out of its offense after the season-ending losses of defensive tentpoles Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, it could’ve gone so much worse for the 49ers and Jones.

And very importantly, Jones hasn’t ever acted like he was owed anything since arriving as a free agent — four years after Shanahan almost selected him with the third overall pick in the draft. And he’s never offered even a glancing indication that he intends to usurp Purdy.

I’ve been around a lot of veteran backups. The ones who win games as a sub, then don’t immediately start plotting to take over, are the rarest.

Jones probably is comfortable knowing that he likely will be a starting QB elsewhere next season (he’s signed with the 49ers for another season, but they could get something good for him in a trade next offseason). And he and the 49ers just want to make the most of this season right now.

“I just know how much confidence guys have in Brock,” Shanahan said. “And when Brock goes down, when you lose your starting quarterback, it’s always tough on a team. But the way Mac’s stepped in there going back to New Orleans (in Week 2) and how he was that first game, to how he’s been in practice, how he was in the offseason, Mac’s been great.”

Yes, it has gone quite well. On Sunday, Jones started off on fire, completing all 14 of his pass attempts in the first half with the usual Shanahan menu of quick-hitting short and middle-tier passes.

Overall, Jones was 19-of-24 on the day for 235 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions, though a ball that was ruled a lost fumble when Brian Burns hit his arm at the end of the first half easily could’ve been listed as an interception. But either way, it was just another extremely solid outing, this one with a passer rating of 135.2.

“Mac is an honorary tight end; he just has that juice to him,” George Kittle said Sunday. “He has that energy, kind of free-flowing love. So Mac fits in perfect with our locker room.

“I mean, what’s his record as a starter, 5-2? Yeah, pretty good. I just want Mac to keep being Mac and he’s helping our team out tremendously. If he feels he gets to be himself more with us, that makes me extremely happy.”

Last season, the 49ers went 0-2 in the games Purdy missed (played by Brandon Allen and Josh Dobbs) and had zero chance without Purdy at his best. In Jones’ seven starts this season, the 49ers indeed have gone 5-2 — and he’s completed 65.9% of his passes for 228.1 yards per game, 8 TDs and 5 INTs. Overall. he has a 89.0 rating.

On the downside, Jones has probably taken a few too many sacks — 14 total, including the rough one on Sunday — but also was limping around on a bad knee for most of this time.

On the upside, Jones clearly is trusted enough by Shanahan to fire away; it seems pretty clear now that the early gameplan with Jones was to throw it 30 to 40 times a game when defenses presumed the 49ers would go into a shell without Purdy. Then with the passing game established and the defenses dropping back, Shanahan has returned to a heavy running attack with Christian McCaffrey and, on Sunday, Brian Robinson Jr.

On the biggest upside, Jones’ wisecracking, funny-cocky, self-deprecating personality makes him seem like a 49er lifer, not just a famous guy who showed up recently.

“It’s not a knock on anybody,” Jones said. “I feel like this is a great organization — it’s a lot of laid-back people and that’s more my personality and just lets me be me.”

Really, Jones has been everything the 49ers could’ve asked for in these seven weeks. But should they ask for a little more?

On Sunday, the 49ers have a huge game against the Rams at Levi’s Stadium — after already pocketing a Jones-led victory over the Rams at SoFi Stadium. Will Purdy be ready? Or will the 49ers worry that he’ll be too rusty to play precisely in this game, the way he was rusty in the Week 4 loss to Jacksonville after taking two weeks off?

Shanahan obviously shouldn’t sit Purdy if he’s 100% fit. The 49ers are loving the knowledge that they should be getting Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, and Brandon Aiyuk back in the next few weeks — and if they have a way through the NFC playoffs, it’s with their offense at full force.

But that might not be in time for the Rams game. And if the 49ers win that game, whoever’s at QB, they’ll have taken a large step toward winning the division.

“Just want to make sure he gets 100% better and don’t put him out there too early,” Shanahan said of the process of getting Purdy back out there. “Thought about it as a possible backup or emergency, but I think the more time we give him the better.

“We’re trying to ease Brock out there into practice stuff. But anytime you’re dealing with this turf toe, that’s something that probably won’t fully go away all year. You know, regardless of when he comes back, he’s always going to have to deal with it a little bit. … It’s really just about assessing when’s the best to come back that you have to deal with it the least. It’s a little bit of a tricky decision.”

Again, no doubt, Purdy’s the Franchise QB, officially sanctioned by the $265-million deal he signed in the offseason.

But Jones’ play over these seven games has given the 49ers the luxury of taking their time with Purdy. And even after Purdy returns, if his toe bothers him or if he’s a little off, they’ve still got Jones.

I’m not saying this is a QB Competition. It’s not. Purdy is QB1 for now, for when he returns, and for the next several years. But he’s missed a lot of games lately. He could miss more in the future.

And now the 49ers have two QBs who have proven they can win games for this team. Jones is clearly relishing every moment of it. The rest of the team knows the value of it. And when Purdy is ready to come back at full speed, they’ll be in better shape than almost anybody could’ve hoped. Thanks to Mac Jones’ seven-game journey and resolution all in one.