San Francisco 49ers Rookie quarterback Trey Lance is making his first NFL start. He is replacing the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. The veteran starter didn’t look ready during Friday’s practice.
Garoppolo suffered a calf injury in week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks. It happened on the first drive of the game. The injury was determined to be a calf contusion putting him day to day.
Lance will have a tough task for his first game as the 49ers play the undefeated Arizona Cardinals next. This is a crucial game in the NFC West which is a competitive division. On top of that, All-Pro tight end George Kittle is currently out with a calf injury of his own. There will be little room for Lance in his debut as a starter.
Due to the short notice, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has done his best to keep it simple for the rookie and make him comfortable.
Just with this being his first start, just trying to give him stuff he’s comfortable with, stuff we’ve put him through,” Shanahan said Friday of his plans for Lance. “You don’t want to sit there and make up too much new stuff. There’s only a couple days of practice, you just want to make sure he’s as comfortable as possible.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan
Trey Lance the last to start
The 49ers drafted Trey Lance 3rd overall in the 2021 NFL draft. They selected him after Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. Lance inherited the best situation of all three of those guys.
Of the 5 quarterbacks taken in the first round, Lance will be the last of them to start a game in the NFL. Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, and Justin Fields have all started a game this season.
Lastly, this is an opportunity for Trey Lance to show the 49ers what their future holds. The job still belongs to Garopollo, but the clock is ticking.
