If Trey Lance is worried about his job security, the 22-year-old isn't showing it. The San Francisco 49ers' second-year quarterback is entering the 2022 season as a starter. Behind him will be his veteran mentor and former starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo.
On Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that Garoppolo would be QB2 when the Niners take their field on September 11 for their regular-season opener in Chicago.
Rookie Brock Purdy showed enough in training camp and the preseason to stick around on the 53-man roster, leaving Nate Sudfeld out of the picture.
Lance appears excited about the 49ers' current quarterback room, sharing the following on Instagram.
It looks like QB1, @treylance09, is pretty excited about the #49ers' QB room for this season.#FTTB pic.twitter.com/JMMpHBJz3k
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) August 31, 2022
The 49ers were transparent with Lance about bringing back Garoppolo—who they couldn't trade this offseason—as a backup at a reduced cost. Apparently, Lance was all for it.
"Trey was great," Shanahan shared. "There were no problems with it at all. I told him the exact same things that I told Jimmy. The option of bringing Jimmy here, that it had to be in a backup-type deal, which Jimmy knew that was his option and that was the only option. And we told that to Trey also. Trey and Jimmy have a great relationship."
Garoppolo can still help Lance, even with the QB1 and QB2 roles now reversed. He also offers the 49ers some security. Should Lance get injured, the team can insert a battle-tested quarterback who knows the system inside and out and, hopefully, not skip a beat.
As for the awkwardness of the situation, the coach believes the locker room and culture he and general manager John Lynch built can overcome such challenges.
"They enjoyed each other last year, despite the fact that they were competing, especially in training camp," Shanahan added. "But they were really good with each other. And I think Jimmy, once he did get that starting role, enjoyed Trey all year.
"And when I told Trey that Jimmy's going to come back, he's like, 'Awesome. That dude was awesome for me last year. I can't wait to be the same way.'"