Trey Lance is entering his first full season as an NFL starter. His San Francisco 49ers will travel to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Bears in their regular-season opener this weekend.
Luckily, Lance got his first NFL starts out of the way as a rookie last year, so he knows what to expect. The 22-year-old has also benefited from an entire offseason preparing to be the starter and taking most of the quarterback reps.
"I'm excited," Lance said before Wednesday's practice. "I mean, real similar to the weeks that I did start last year, from a preparation standpoint. But it's great to have those guys in the room, great to have Jimmy (Garoppolo) in the room to help, bounce ideas off of. But yeah, it's been awesome."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan has done everything possible to prepare Lance to be the team's starter.
"I think Trey is in as good a spot as I've been around him in," Shanahan said. "He's confident, had a good camp, got as many reps as he's ever gotten before. He's been thrown in a ton of tough situations, some good situations. And now, it's time to go play."
The coach knows things might not go as planned, given Lance's limited experience. The second-year quarterback threw only 71 pass attempts as a rookie. That came after playing one game in North Dakota State's 2020 season. The 49ers have a talented roster, though, capable of carrying the young quarterback through any struggles.
"Trey's got to go out there and do his job," Shanahan said. "And if he does his job well, and the guys around him do their job well, I feel we have a good chance to win in any game. And if they don't, other guys got to pick it up. That's kind of how you look at it. He's going to have some good, some bad. The other players are going to have some good, some bad. Hopefully, we end up with more points than them."
Lance was asked if he gets butterflies before games, especially considering his limited experience. The quarterback wouldn't describe his pre-game feelings like that, though.
"I try to stay pretty calm and not too up and down before games," Lance said. "Not necessarily butterflies but definitely excited. I'll try to calm myself down, take deep breaths. But yeah, once football starts, it's just playing the game."