Trey Lance was expectedly uneven in his second NFL start on Sunday. The rookie did some good things — his 45-yard TD pass to Deebo Samuel — and some bad things — missing a wide-open Samuel on what would have been a TD, and instead throwing an interception to the other side of the field.
Yet he did enough for the 49ers to win, and showed flashes in the second half that remind why San Francisco traded three first-round picks to draft him at No. 3 overall this season.
Still, it wasn’t enough to convince head coach Kyle Shanahan to make a QB change if Jimmy Garoppolo is healthy next week.
“I mean if Jimmy is 100% healthy and can do everything perfect, then I would definitely go with Jimmy,” Shanahan said. “I’m not just going to throw a guy in after one game like this when Jimmy has been doing it for us all year.
“I think it’s going to be hard for Jimmy to be 100%, which is how most people are this time of year, but Trey did a good job. If Jimmy can’t go we won’t hesitate at all. But if we feel Jimmy can go and play confident then Jimmy will be out there.”
Shanahan did leave himself quite a bit of wriggle room there, which is too be expected considering Garoppolo’s thumb injury remains a variable that is nearly impossible to predict.
What it does dispel is the notion that Lance is necessarily the 49ers’ QB moving forward, although it will be interesting to see what happens if he plays, and is excellent, next week vs. the Rams.