The 49ers' final dress rehearsal is in the books, and while Kyle Shanahan would love for Trey Lance to get more game reps, he believes his quarterback will be prepared for Week 1 of the 2022 NFL regular season.
“I would love to get Trey more practice and more experience,” Shanahan said via conference call on Friday. “I would always want more of that but we’ve run out of those games and he’s ready to go as he can be. He needs to get in these real games now and start playing.”
Lance saw both ups and downs in his two preseason appearances, along with joint practices in Minnesota with the Vikings. He came away from it fully healthy, which Shanahan is very thankful for, especially in consideration of the broken finger he sustained just a year ago. The injury made an indelible impact on Lance's play in his first NFL season.
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Lance was on the field for 33 offensive plays in his two preseason games against the Green Bay Packers and Texans, completing 11 of his 16 attempts for 141 yards while throwing one touchdown pass. After the 49ers' 17-0 loss to the Houston Texans on Thursday night, the 22-year-old shared that he was not going to make a “bigger deal out of it” than needed.
Now Lance and the 49ers will turn the page and use the next 17 days to prepare for their season-opener against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sept. 11. Shanahan knows the road ahead won’t be perfect as the North Dakota State product goes through his first season as the 49ers' starting quarterback, but he does believe Lance has the potential for success.
“There’s going to be times where he makes some mistakes,” Shanahan said. “And he’s going to learn from them and find a way to still win the game and overcome some of those things that he learns on the run.”
Maybe the most important trait that Lance has is the ability to mentally process both the ups and downs while not overreacting to either.
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“Trey has been even keel throughout it all,” Shanahan said. “That’s why it’s going to be fun to go through the season with him, because you know that’s not always going to be the case. We will go through the fire together and this whole team this year.
“We’ve got the ultimate confidence in him to handle the situation right, whatever that situation is.”
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The 49ers will return to the practice field on Sunday, finally starting to game plan and scheme for their Week 1 matchup against the Bears.