Trey Lance’s preseason performance in the 49ers' 34-7 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday didn't started with a bang, but coach Kyle Shanahan saw a lot of positives from his young quarterback.
“I thought he played a lot better as it ended,” Shanahan said on a conference call Monday. “He came out, first play was tough. The corner keyed his three step drop and sat on it. [He] did the right thing, he reset to go to the tight end over the ball, but one of our eligibles busted on the play, and put two guys in the same spot. He had to protect the ball and had to take the sack there.”
By the end of the first quarter, the 49ers' offense had run just nine plays and didn't record a first down. Lance had completed only two of his four attempts for nine yards and was sacked three times for a loss of 13 yards.
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“[The second] sack on the third-and-8 wasn’t his fault,” Shanahan said. “We kind of had a jail-break on it. The two after, that I thought he could have gotten rid of it a little before the sack. A couple of other things he just hesitated on a hair, earlier in the game.”
On the 49ers' fourth drive, the offense finally started getting into a rhythm. When asked if the slow start was due to Lance’s lack of live-game action since Week 2 of the 2022 season, Shanahan believes that's a possibility, but would not commit to it being an absolute.
Shanahan was pleased with the progress he saw as the first half continued. Lance finished the half completing 10 of his 15 attempts for 112 yards and one touchdown, albeit a "scary" one. Shanahan saw multiple plays where Lance was decisive and productive.
“He made a huge third down on a third-and-8, I think it was to [Chris] Conley,” Shanahan said. “Made a very decisive one on two-minute that got us down there to Troy [Fumagalli]. Ended up doing some good things. I wish we could have converted that short yardage and kept him out there a little longer, but that’s some of the frustrating things about preseason.”
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Shanahan stuck to his plan by ending Lance’s day after the first half, but would have liked to have seen if the former first-round draft pick could have carried the momentum into the second half. Instead, Sam Darnold saw time under center after halftime along with Brandon Allen, who took over on the second drive of the fourth quarter.
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If Shanahan follows the same plan he has set out for his quarterback’s practice reps, Sam Darnold will get the bulk of snaps in the 49ers' second preseason contest against the Denver Broncos at 5:30 p.m. PT on Saturday at Levi's Stadium.
But that can always change.