- With the media sensing a brewing controversy, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has reaffirmed Jimmy Garoppolo’s status as starting quarterback.
- Rookie Trey Lance is the Niners’ backup and has played well in limited action so far this season.
- The 49ers are 2-1 so far this season and host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, October 3.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been injured and inconsistent during much of his tenure as the team’s starting quarterback. So far this season, he’s just been inconsistent. Even with San Francisco holding a reasonable 2-1 record after three games the NFL media is desperate to see a good ‘quarterback controversy’ with the Niners. Head coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t having it, however, and has made clear in no uncertain terms that Garoppolo is the starting quarterback.
One thing that has made the situation a bit more murky is the way that rookie Trey Lance has been used this season. The Niners have plays and packages designed for Lance in their offense and that has given him the opportunity to make the most of his limited playing time. Lance has only played 7 snaps this season but he’s scored two touchdowns. Lance is a very effective rushing quarterback and with the Niners experiencing a spate of injuries to their running back corps it obviated the question ‘could Lance be useful given the circumstances’? Shanahan gave this response:
“If we thought that would be the case, we’d do it,”
Shanahan gave this extended rant to solidify Garoppolo’s status as starting quarterback:
“There’s not a quarterback battle right now. We’re going with our starting quarterback who I think is playing very well. I’m happy that he is, so Trey is not thrown into any situations he has to do too early. If he ever is thrown into that, then I know Trey will deal with that and he’ll get better as it goes, but we have a luxury where we don’t have to do that yet to Trey or to our team.”
Pressing further about the criteria to determine how much playing time Lance gets the media got this ‘non-answer’ from the coach:
“Trey’s our backup quarterback. This isn’t the preseason. We’re not just going back and forth all the time.”
“We have put him [Lance] on the field. We do it in situations. You can go with whatever you want what I say in training camp and you can expand on that or not. But I think I was asked coming off the field of our third [preseason] game if we’d see this in the regular season, I said, ‘probably not.’ So, I think a lot of words have been put in my mouth with some of that stuff or exaggerated pretty big. So, I pretty much keep it pretty real to everyone, but I don’t just tell everyone the answer. But I’ve been pretty consistent with what I’ve said.”
For his part, quarterback Lance says that his job is to be ready for whatever task he is given:
“There’s no certain situations that I know that I’m going in or don’t just stay ready just like all the other tight ends and receivers and running backs that are subbing out of the game.”
At BetOnline.ag, the 49ers are priced at +1600 to win the Super Bowl making them the eighth overall choice. San Francisco will host the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday as they try to improve on their 2-1 record. The Niners are a -2.5 point home favorite with the total set at 52.
