For the first time since Oct. 22, 2023, Mac Jones walked off an NFL field as a winning quarterback, although for most of Sunday’s game it appeared two field goals would be all the Tennessee Titans would need to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Then Jones led the Jaguars to 10 fourth-quarter points, enough for a 10-6 victory in a game between AFC South rivals playing out the final month of their seasons.

“I know it’s really hard to win in the NFL,” Jones said. “And I’ve learned that the hard way. And I’ve always followed that mantra of just: A win’s a win. And you can play really well and lose and play not so good and win. And it just takes that one or two plays each game, so I told the young guys that. That’s the learning lesson here. And I feel like we played with a little bit more swag today. And I know we’re going to continue to do that. Offense, defense and special teams, we’re not going to be scared, so we just got to keep that going.”

Jones was New England’s quarterback for the Patriots’ 29-25 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 22, 2023. But four straight losses later, New England benched Jones, kept him there for the final six games of the 2023 season and traded him to Jacksonville in March to back up Trevor Lawrence.

With Lawrence going on injured reserve last week, Jones has another opportunity as a starter with free agency ahead in the offseason.

The former Alabama All-American had thrown two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in relief of Lawrence in last week’s 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans.

The Jacksonville offense did not pick up where it left off. When the Jaguars took possession at their 30-yard line with 4:30 left in the third quarter, Jacksonville trailed 6-0, had achieved six first downs and had snapped the football seven times in Tennessee’s half of the field.

Jones had completed 14-of-21 passes for 126 yards with two interceptions entering the possession. The Jaguars came away with a 23-yard field goal by Chad Little with 12:09 remaining to cut the Titans’ lead in half. Jones completed 6-of-7 passes for 37 yards, with five of the completions going to first-round wide receiver Brian Thomas, who had been catchless before the drive.

“I’ve been there a lot of times,” Jones said, “and I’ve played not so great in the first half and kind of let it affect the next half. And I told the guys and I told myself that I’m not letting that happen today. And we kind of just went out there and responded. And it all comes down to communication. I think sometimes you’re not talking with the guys if stuff’s not going good. You just got to keep pushing and play each play one play at a time. And they definitely responded.”

When the Jaguars regained possession at their 19 with 10:07 to play, the dink-and-dunk was out as Jones completed three passes to Thomas for 57 yards. A third-and-4 connection for 31 yards moved Jacksonville to the Tennessee 12-yard line, and two runs by former Auburn standout Tank Bigsby complete the touchdown drive as the Jaguars took a 10-6 lead with 6:46 to play.

“Our defense gave us a chance to be in that position,” Jones said. “And at the end of the day, our best player made a good play.”

The Jacksonville defense made it stand up by stopping the Titans on downs at the Jaguars 9 and the Tennessee 35 in the remaining time.

Both the Titans and Jaguars have a 3-10 record, with the victory snapping a five-game losing streak for Jacksonville.

“We didn’t quit this time,” Jones said, “which is really important for us moving forward. There was no quit.”

Jones completed 23-of-31 passes for 220 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions and ran for 3 yards on three carries.

The Jaguars play another 3-10 team when they square off against the New York Jets at noon CST Dec. 15 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.