Trey Lance: To Be Or Not To Be Accurate

Following the team’s first preseason win over the Green Bay Packers Friday night, the San Francisco 49ers only took one day off before hitting the practice Sunday and Monday.

The 49ers got some light work in over the previous two days, as injuries have already started to set in for this squad. Starting cornerbacks Emmanuel Moseley and Charvarius Ward have been out for roughly a week due to different leg strains, defensive lineman Arik Armstead is out due to a MCL sprain, and now starting safety Jimmie Ward could miss week 1 of the regular season due to a hamstring strain. 

“Yeah, it was a pretty bad hamstring injury and it’s not like the other two guys, so we’ll see over here over the next couple weeks how it plays out,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday. The offensive side of the ball has been more fortunate, only sustaining two hamstring injuries to starting running back Elijah Mitchell and offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill. Both are expected back by week 1.

The Rollercoaster Ride That Is Trey Lance

Speaking of offense, Trey Lance has been under center for the majority of snaps over the past two days, after only attempting five passes in Friday’s victory. In fact, Shanahan had his young QB out on the field for 100% of the team reps, emulating what practice will continue to adjust to as the season progresses.

The North Dakota State product continued his pattern of “off one day, on another” as Lance went 4 for 15 in Sunday’s practice. The second-year quarterback had numerous misfires but did connect with tight end George Kittle and wideout Brandon Aiyuk on touchdown throws during the red zone portion of drills.

Following the poor showing Sunday, Lance exhibited those bounce-back tendencies the next day, going 11 of 14 Monday, including a nice completion to Deebo Samuel on an out route down the field. Lance’s biggest weakness of camp has been his accuracy on out routes, if he can get those down, it’ll just be another step towards becoming a complete quarterback.

It should be fun to watch Trey Lance operate against Minnesota this week. He went 11-of-14 at today’s practice; accuracy was back after Sunday’s poor session and there was even a very nice deep out completion to Deebo Samuel

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 15, 2022

Shanahan said he and the coaching staff are pleased with Lance’s progress.

“It’s what we’ve expected,” Shanahan said. “That’s why we wanted him and he’s been how we expected and I think when you’re like that and you have the skillset and you can keep stacking days together, it’s a matter of time before you get to a certain level.” 

Lance will take full part in the joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings Wednesday and Thursday. He will not play in the teams’ preseason contest Saturday.

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