San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance hasn't received many opportunities to work with the first-team offense or against the first-team defense. Could that change as soon as tomorrow? Head coach Kyle Shanahan said he is at least considering the possibility.
The Niners are in Southern California—Costa Mesa, to be precise—for joint practices against the Los Angeles Chargers. Their first practice was today. The two teams practice tomorrow and will play each other in an exhibition game at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
"I'd like [Lance] to get some reps with the ones, eventually," Shanahan said when asked about the plan for the No. 3 overall pick. "I kind of re-evaluate that after each practice, not just so he can get with our ones but also so he can go against the [first-team] defense and stuff."
Fans in attendance may actually see Lance get some work tomorrow against the Chargers starters. It might be good for the rookie's development.
"We'll see if we do some of that tomorrow," Shanahan shared. "If I do, it would be more trying to get him some reps versus (Joey) Bosa and Derwin (James) and some of those other guys too because there's definitely a difference."
Still, there is no real competition between Lance and veteran Jimmy Garoppolo. Nothing from training camp has suggested that the rookie is on a path to compete for the starting job by Week 1. The practice reps with the first-team offense just haven't been there.
Shanahan was asked about Lance's trajectory and where he is now compared to where he started at the beginning of training camp.
"They're competing their ass[es] off," Shanahan responded. "They're doing a good job. It's not about one guy versus the other guy. It's about how good can Trey be? How good can Jimmy be? I think both of them, when you go through camp, you go through games, you go through practices, I mean, it's up and down throughout the whole thing. So that's why I don't sit and [evaluate] who's ahead of the other, what's going on after each practice.
"I mean, they both bring different elements to our team. Both of them, I believe, can play at a high level. I'm trying to see which one does that the best for us."
Garoppolo insists that seeing Lance over his shoulder hasn't changed how he competes in practice.
"I come out here, I'm trying to earn the job the same as everyone else," Garoppolo said. "I think it's one of those jobs where you've got come out and compete every day, and as soon as you stop competing, you're going to find out real quick what the NFL is like. Every day, I approach it the same. I try to have just a consistent mindset and let the chips fall as they may."
