The San Francisco 49ers now will have to wait until the 2023 NFL season to find out if Trey Lance is the real deal.
Lance's 2022 campaign likely is over after sustaining a gruesome injury in the Niners' eventual 27-7 win over the Seahawks at Levi's Stadium. Late in the first quarter of the Week 2 matchup, Lance held onto the football on a zone-read play and awkwardly fell to the turf after a collision with Seattle linebacker Cody Barton. The sophomore signal-caller, who sustained a broken ankle on the play, had his right leg put in an air cast and was carted off the field.
Kyle Shanahan was able to catch up with Lance before he exited the stadium. There's not much a head coach can say in a moment like that, but Shanahan sympathized with a player who entered the season with a ton of promise and a lot to prove.
"I'm sorry," Shanahan told Lance, per NBC Sports' Peter King. "You were playing your ass off."
Fortunately for Shanahan and company, doomsday hasn't arrived in the Bay Area. The 49ers now will be quarterbacked by Jimmy Garoppolo, who arguably was better-suited to lead this offense than Lance. In fact, "several players and coaches" in San Francisco reportedly believe the Niners now are a better team with Jimmy G back under center.
