Trey Lance returned to practice yesterday after missing over two weeks of action with a knee sprain that he suffered during San Francisco's Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Lance, who started in place of Jimmy Garoppolo against the Cardinals, ran the ball 16 times during the game for a total of 89 yards, leading the 49ers in the run game.
However, he wasn't practicing during the bye week or at all last week, and wasn't active for last Sunday's loss to the Indianapolis Colts, leading to speculation about the initial 1-2 week diagnosis that Kyle Shanahan announced following the injury.
49ers legend Steve Young went onto KNBR Wednesday and spoke about the rookie quarterback, who resembles a similar mobile archetype in that both quarterbacks use their dual-threat ability to make plays.
While Young is certainly excited for Lance, the former NFL quarterback understands the reasoning behind sitting Lance this year.
"This is a great Super Bowl team," Young said on the Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks show. "So, my point being, of all the rookies trying to make it right now, the best place for the rookie to make it is right here. And so, if he can't get on the field the whole first year, even under duress, when we really need him to, then I'm fine. Let it play out, give him the space. You'll see him next year. And then, hopefully, it all goes well. But I don't know that we're going to know more unless we get tested now."
Despite team struggles, Young preached the idea of patience, especially with a rookie quarterback, rather than rushing Lance into action.
"Let's wait until we get a really good shot at this," Young said. "And I think it's probably smart. When you've invested everything, you've gone all in with the picks and everything ... when you're one in five times in history [teams have] giving up that much, then you want to take the year, right? Like, let's be patient. Let's figure it out."
However, Young believes that players develop with their struggles, and can't wait to see how he handles adversity, although he cautions the health and safety as the first priority.
"And my only thing, from living it, at some level, I kind of want to see him under duress," Young explained. "I want to see him in the struggle. I don't want to break, I don't want to see him get hurt ... but I want to know."
Lance looked smooth in his return to practice and his availability will be monitored throughout the week as the 49ers play the Chicago Bears this weekend in a matchup of two low-scoring offenses. Perhaps, if Lance is active this week, he could be implemented into the offense to provide a sense of variety for a struggling 49ers team.
