High-ranking members of the 49ers organization knew there was a chance San Francisco could encounter rough patches this season. Such is life when you enter a campaign with a second-year quarterback who significantly lacks experience.
With the potential for these tough times in mind, the powers that be in the Bay Area reportedly wanted to make sure the Niners’ new starting signal-caller had the full support of the team.
In his latest Football Morning in America column for NBC Sports, Peter King cited a 49ers-Bears pregame report from FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer, who claims San Francisco did a bit of due diligence to make sure the team didn’t bail on Trey Lance if the 22-year-old showcased concerning struggles.
“Jay Glazer reported before the game on FOX that coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch, after Jimmy Garoppolo got re-signed, asked 15 team leaders to be sure they had Trey Lance’s back if times got tough this season,” King wrote. “According to Glazer, they said words to this effect to the 15 team leaders: ‘Guys, we need your support here. We’ve got to make sure that you get Trey’s back. There will be some bumpy roads ahead. We’ve got to make sure that people aren’t clamoring to move on to Jimmy. We’ve got to make sure we have your support.’ Clearly, they recognized that Garoppolo has lots of friends in the locker room and wanted to prevent the fracturing of the locker room if Lance went through a bad run.”
Little did Shanahan and Lynch know that those doubts about Lance might start to creep into the 49ers’ locker room after the very first game of the season. The North Dakota State product put forth a demoralizing performance Sunday — albeit in brutal weather conditions — completing 13 of 28 pass attempts for 164 yards with no touchdowns and an interception in San Francisco’s upset loss to the Chicago Bears. The road ahead isn’t going to get any easier for Lance, as two of the Niners’ next three games are against the reloaded Denver Broncos and reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
The 49ers shouldn’t sound the panic alarm after one lousy game from Lance. That being said, San Francisco has too talented of a roster to be held back by a work-in-progress QB when a proven veteran is waiting in the wings.
