San Francisco 49ers race to accelerate growth for Trey Lance

To Eric D. Williams
FOX Sports NFC West Lighter

Long time NFL Coach Gus Bradley calls it a race for maturity.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance and coach Kyle Shanahan are immersed in the process of speeding up the development of second-year quarterbacks by giving them as many reps as possible in training camp. The Niners are rushing in hopes that Lance will be able to control the offense by Week 1 of the regular season.

Considering the 11 plays Lance ran in the team’s preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers on Friday, he looks to be heading in the right direction. He finished 5-for-4 for 92 yards and no interceptions, including a 76-yard touchdown to speedster Danny Gray.

Lance was sacked once, scoring a 7-yard run and finishing with a 158.3 purser rating.

“I skied for the first time in my life [on the seven-yard run]’” Lance told reporters.Maybe I wanted to move the chain, but maybe [with] One more step. But I’m excited to go back and watch the tapes…experience it with the coaches and the offense.”

Shanahan shut Lance down after two series. “I would love to play with him forever, as long as he is guaranteed not to get hurt,” the coach told reporters after the game. “Because with Trey, the more rep he gets, the more it helps, whether it’s good or bad.”

Shanahan says he’s not sure if Lance will play in this week’s preseason game in Minnesota on Saturday. I place more importance on

“We just like real football, not against our defense,” Shanahan said.

Lance, from Marshall, Minnesota, said he’s looking forward to seeing friends and family back home this week. They’re very important to Lance, his 22-year-old, who only played for North Dakota State in one season and last year’s rookie he started two games during the season.

Simply put, Lance hasn’t played much football against quality opponents going back to his college days.

Just a little bit, last week’s game showed that having Lance as the team’s starter could expand the Niners’ playbook, including deeper shots down the field and the ability to use his feet to move chains. .

Shanahan’s key will be building a defensive and running game around Lance, who will experience the inevitable growing pains in the first half of the season.

Lance has a lot to like. At 6 feet 4 inches and 224 pounds, blessed with strong arms and great speed, he is modeled after such versatile quarterbacks as Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert and Deshawn Watson.

But Lance has to prove his worth on the field. He only made his 57.7% of passes last season. Training in San Francisco Reports from his camp are that his mechanics are improving, but we’ll have to see that when the intensity increases during regular season games.

Is Lance effective in the critical moments of playing football, such as the third down, the red zone and the end of the game? Because he helped the 49ers reach a Super Bowl and two NFC Championship games during his tenure as a starter, playing well in clutch moments.

Now that Garoppolo has moved forward, Lance must show that he can play efficiently in moments of pressure and improve his teammates’ play.

One person Lance believes has the mentality to succeed is San Francisco’s new quarterback coach Brian Griese.

“He has humility, which gives him the opportunity to learn from his mistakes and grow,” said Gliese. Griese is an 11-year veteran of the NFL, and his father, Bob Griese, is a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Yes, it’s not natural.

“The way he interacts with the team, the way he operates on the field, the way he reacts when he makes a mistake, all of these things are very positive.

Now it’s only a matter of time and we’re running low before the season starts.

Eric D. Williams has covered the NFL for over a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter. @eric_d_williams.

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