Sep 11, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance (5) leads his team onto the field before the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears
(San Francisco, CA) – It’s been a series of highs and lows during the short NFL career of 49ers QB Trey Lance.
He was taken third overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, and then got hurt after earning the starting job in his second year.
Now, after Brock Purdy seized the starting role in his absence, Lance isn’t even the team’s backup – that’d be former Panthers and Jets QB Sam Darnold. In fact, ahead of year three, the former third-overall pick, is now the third-stringer for head coach Kyle Shanahan.
The coaching staff broke the news to Lance on Wednesday, then reportedly gave him the day off to clear his head. NFL.com reports Shanahan made the decision after “watching how Trey was when we talked.” He elaborated he thought it’d be “better to, ‘Hey, take the day off, clear your head some, we’ll talk later in the afternoon and get you back in there tomorrow.’”
Meanwhile, Shanahan is hopeful Lance will remain a member of the 49ers for the foreseeable future, telling KNBR that’s his hope:
“I mean, this isn’t a thing where we’re giving up on Trey. This is more of how Brock [Purdy] played in his seven games and that was decided before the season started, and how Sam [Darnold has] looked. They’ve both looked good but we have to make a decision here. You only get so many reps at it. We feel starting about 10 days ago Sam really separated himself, and we got to keep it real in that way.”
But Shanahan said he’s also open to trading Lance, especially if that’s the young signal caller’s preference.
49er’s insider David Lombardi, who writes for the Athletic, quoted the head coach on X (formerly Twitter): “We’ll always try to do right for Trey. If he’s in a better situation that his heart’s in and something like that, we’re going to make sure to do something that doesn’t hurt him in that. So that’s stuff I talked to him about this morning, that’s stuff that I’ll talk to him about tonight and continue to talk to him about. But Trey knows how I feel about him and I hope he ends up being able to be here and that’s the best thing for him, but we’ve gotta see what is the best thing from now until then.”
