Don't put all the blame from Sunday's Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears on the shoulders of Trey Lance. That was the message from Hall of Fame wide receiver and San Francisco 49ers icon Jerry Rice during his weekly interview on 95.7 The Game.
"I'm sure Trey, he would love to have that interception back," Rice said on The Morning Roast. "He missed a couple of throws; the one he overthrew to the tight end. But I felt like he played OK. I feel like he did enough to win that football game. And you've got to look at what happened with the Chicago Bears. They sort of won that game the last five minutes left in that ballgame."
Lance finished the game 13-of-28 for 164 yards, an interception, and a passer rating of 50.3. While he started two games last season in a backup role to Jimmy Garoppolo, Sunday was his first game as the 49ers' full-time starter.
Speaking of Garoppolo, some fans declared that the 49ers probably win Sunday's game with the now-backup at the helm of the offense.
"Hold up, man. It's the first game of the season, guys. Come on, now," Rice said. "I understand competition. There ain't nothing wrong with competition. I think Trey, he has the maturity where he's going to deal with this. He knows that this is his team, and it's up to him to lose the [starting] quarterback position.
"I think he's only going to get better. Look at some of the throws he made to Brandon Aiyuk and some of the other receivers, guys. We need to dial [the quarterback debate] back just a little bit."
Rice has a lot of confidence in Lance, acknowledging that the best is yet to come. This was only his third NFL start, after all.
"I know this guy; he's got the composure," Rice added. "He's going to get better. We've got to get everybody back on the field. We've got to get George Kittle (who missed the game due to a groin injury) back in the mix and all of that. Trey had that interception, and then Deebo (Samuel) had that fumble. You cannot afford to turn the ball over on the road. It's going to end up costing you."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Rice below.