Kyle Shanahan Pleased With Trey Lance’s Progress; ‘More Reps He Gets, The Better He’ll Get’
Aug 17, 2022, 11:30 AM | Updated: Sep 6, 2022, 9:51 am
It’s that time of the year football fans!
No, we’re still a few weeks away from the start of the regular season. Instead, it’s that time of the preseason when teams travel cross-country to hold joint practices with one another. This year, the San Francisco 49ers traveled to Minnesota to join the Vikings for joint practices Wednesday and Thursday, prior to the two teams playing Saturday afternoon.
The Red & Gold have a few personal connections to the North Star State, including their young starting QB Trey Lance, a native Minnesotan. Lance was raised only three hours from the Vikings’ practice facility in Marshall, Minn. The homecoming will have to wait until the offseason, however, as the coaching staff and the young QB were locked in at practice Wednesday.
Lance finished the day 11 for 18, including a long touchdown pass to rookie wideout Danny Gray, burning Patrick Peterson in the process.
Kyle Shanahan Pleased With Young QB
“Trey’s done a good job. I thought he had a good day today. You know we’re in the middle of camp, so some good, some bad but he’s getting better throughout the whole process,” Shanahan said Wednesday.
Shanahan had previously announced Lance would be held out of the upcoming preseason game with the Vikings. Following the first practice, the message remains the same.
“Right now I’m not expecting to, I mean we’re day-to-day with that. We’ll see how practice goes tomorrow, there’s a chance he will but that was the original plan,” Shanahan stated.
The 49ers’ head coach also had a bit of a homecoming Wednesday, having been born in Minneapolis. Prior to practice, Kyle Shanahan was joined by his father and hall of fame coach, Mike, chatting with current Vikings’ head coach, Kevin O’ Connell. While neither the younger Shanahan nor O’Connell have worked together, both coaches have mutual respect for one another.
#49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and #Vikings Kevin O’Connell talk practice scripts, with Mike Shanahan, too pic.twitter.com/DIcWhZ1NoW
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) August 17, 2022
“Yeah, we’ve never worked together but our paths have been real close together,” Shanahan said regarding O’Connell. “I remember studying the heck out of him coming out of San Diego State when that was my first year as a quarterback coach…I’ve been able to get to know Kevin, never worked with him but he’s an awesome dude and you guys have a hell of a coach.”
Click here to watch Shanahan’s entire press conference.