On Thursday, NFL legend Joe Montana made some headlines, saying he feels that the San Francisco 49ers should hold onto quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo because his successor, Trey Lance, may not be ready to play.
"I think they keep Jimmy until you find somebody else," Montana told Kevin Clark of The Ringer. "I don't think Trey's ready to play yet, myself, and after talking to some of the players. It's one of those things that if you can keep Jimmy healthy, he plays well enough to get you here (the Super Bowl)."
Lance insists he will be ready for whatever the 49ers ask of him, including starting Week 1 of the 2022 season. While not directly asked about Montana's comments, Rob Guerrera of Niners Nation asked the 21-year-old quarterback about the outside noise (h/t to @49erscast1 on Twitter for the find), and those saying he isn't ready to play.
"I only worry about people in our building, my teammates, my coaches," Lance said. "At the end of the day, if I'm worrying about—no offense—but what everyone in your profession says, that's not my job to worry about. So I'm going to keep trying to handle business the best I can, and be a good teammate, be a good leader, and find my role."
Trey Lance he's ready to start next season👀
— 49erscast (@49erscast1) February 11, 2022
🎥 @49erswebzone pic.twitter.com/522Ku3iK57
There have also been rumors flying around about other veteran quarterbacks potentially making their way to Santa Clara, possibly keeping Lance on the sidelines for another season. However, Lance reiterated his comments from other interviews this week, saying he plans to be ready to play.
"I'm confident that I'll be ready to go in OTAs, training camp, and absolutely Week 1," Lance said.
That doesn't mean Lance feels he'll step in Week 1 and light things up on offense. Having only started two games this past season, and playing in just one collegiate game in the 20 months before the season, the quarterback ackowledges there could be some growing pains.
"There's going to be ups and downs," Lance admitted. "No one's perfect. I definitely don't come in expecting to be perfect, but I definitely need to be ready to go for [my teammates] because those guys, I truly believe and trust and know those guys are going to be ready to go.
"We have so many weapons, offense-, defense-, special teams-wise, obviously our coaching staff as well. I'm very excited to work with these guys this offseason, and going into the season."
