San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance had a bounce-back performance on Tuesday, completing 14/17 passes with a rushing touchdown, while consistently picking up the chains in one of his best practices during training camp yet.
Lance, who completed 4/12 passes on Sunday with an interception, was not as bad as the numbers indicated on Monday, but Tuesday's performance was certainly a pleasant sight as the 49ers head into their first preseason game on Friday against the Green Bay Packers.
Lance started the day strong, completing his first five passes, which included a 15-yard slant and 20-yard completion to Brandon Aiyuk, and a 15-yard comeback and 8-yard out to Deebo Samuel, with the latter throw being in the redzone.
While Lance didn't pass for a touchdown in my book, he was extremely close on the 8-yard out to Samuel, which could've also been ruled a touchdown as well.
However, Lance rushed for a touchdown on the second play of the redzone period, stepping up in the pocket after seeing the pressure on the edges and taking off up the middle for the touchdown. The offensive line had good protection on the play, forcing the defensive line to the outside, allowing Lance to step up and make the correct read.
Lance also rushed for a 40-45 yard gain on a read option down the left sideline. While he could've potentially gone for a touchdown, Talanoa Hufanga was near him on the play and probably would've caught up to force him out of bounds.
One of Lance's better throws of the day came on his sixth completion, where he first looked left, went through his progressions, and took the 7-yard checkdown to Deebo Samuel with pressure closing in.
Similar to the last 2-minute period, Lance successfully drove the offense down the field in a situation where the offense was up by three points, having to travel 65 yards in 2:30. He began the drive with four different rushes, which resulted in two first downs, before making an array of throws to bring the 49ers to within the five-yard line with three seconds left on the drive.
During the move-the-ball period, Lance also was able to move the chains on third down, which was something he struggled with on Sunday, rushing for a 5-yard gain on a 3rd & 3, rolling out for an 18-yard pass to Brandon Aiyuk on a 3rd & 17, and also finding Jauan Jennings for a 10-yard gain on 3rd & 7.
Now, Lance's bounce-back performance wasn't without its struggles as well, as the quarterback was inaccurate on a few throws.
First, on Lance's first completion to Brandon Aiyuk, the quarterback hit the receiver over his back-shoulder on a 12-yard slant, however; there was enough separation for Aiyuk to adjust and continue upfield for a few yards.
Later, Lance hit Kyle Juszczyk wide on a wide-open 4-yard out-route, although the fullback was able to fully extend for the catch. The play did not count as it was a false start.
During the 2-minute drill, on the final play, Lance had a shot at a touchdown to Jauan Jennings on a route to the sideline of the endzone, but the ball was placed somewhat behind the receiver, allowing slot cornerback Samuel Womack to catch up on the play and deflect the pass for a pass-breakup.
Lance also had an ugly near-interception off his back foot on a floated pass that linebacker Fred Warner got his hands on, but did not catch. As Lance was rolling out, he should've definitely thrown the ball out of bounds, but tried making something out of nothing.
Lastly, the 22-year-old quarterback was flustered at times in the redzone, due to holding the ball on too long or receivers not getting open, which resulted in coverage sacks, although the offensive line was normally holding their blocks for the requisite three seconds.
Still, the second-year quarterback had a strong performance, mainly showcasing poise and accuracy while moving the offense downfield with throws to all facets of the field. The 49ers have their last training camp performance on Wednesday, where Lance will look to build on his day to finish the final phase of the offseason on a good note ahead of Friday's preseason game.
