D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
We’re just three days away from the first 49ers preseason game — and the first time fans will get a chance to see rookie quarterback
Trey Lance in game action for the 49ers.
Lance spoke with reporters for several minutes Wednesday as he continues to prepare for his NFL preseason debut. He didn’t go too in-depth about many of the subjects he addressed on Wednesday, but he did give a picture of where he stands camp-wise and how he feels heading into Saturday’s game at Levi’s Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs (5:30 p.m. PDT).
Here’s a rundown of six notable things Lance said when speaking to reports Wednesday.
* Saturday marks the first time Lance will play in front of a crowd of fans in well over a year: COVID-19 restrictions limited Lance to just one exhibition game in 2020, which was played in a mostly empty stadium. This weekend’s game will be the first time he’ll have a crowd of fans in the stands cheering for him since January 11, 2020, which is when he led his North Dakota State team to a 28-20 win over James Madison in the FCS championship game.
“Super excited,” Lance said. “I haven’t played in front of fans obviously since the national championship in 2019. That was over two years ago.”
* This week will be part of the acclimation process: Everything has been part of the rookie learning experience for Lance in his first NFL training camp, and this week’s game will be no different. He plans to use this week to get acclimated to everything that comes with playing in an NFL home game.
“Excited to go out and compete with this locker room of guys,” Lance said. “But kind of at the same time, everything’s new. So just being able to get used to everything — everything from the hotel before the night before the game to pre-game warmup. Everything’s going to be new. But the same time, football is football. So I’ll do everything I can to be prepared as I can on Saturday.”
* Will he meet Patrick Mahomes? Lance told reporters he’s never met Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which may or may not change come Saturday. He has other goals in mind first before getting a chance to say hello to the Chiefs’ gunslinger.
“I don’t know,” Lance said. “I guess I’ll see what happens. I’m kind of trying to win the game.”
* Lance is happy with his camp progress so far: Lance has drawn some good reviews for his performance throughout 49ers training camp. He was asked Wednesday to assess his performance to this point.
“It’s been going pretty well,” Lance said. “I’ve gotten to learn a lot, which I’ve really enjoyed. Just being able to be around my teammates and be in this organization, this locker room is something that’s really, really special.”
* Getting more comfortable with handoffs: One area in which Lance says he’s improved during camp is making sure the ball doesn’t hit the ground on running plays. He puts the blame on his own shoulders any time there’s a problem with an exchange but says his comfort level is growing in that regard within his new offense.
“For sure. It comes with reps,” Lance said. “One ball on the ground is too many. I take the blame for any quarterback-center exchange or quarterback-running back exchange. That’s on me. If I don’t get them the ball at the end of the day, that’s on the quarterback. So I definitely have to be better but at the same time definitely feel a lot more comfortable with it now.”
* Staying ready in case he’s needed: 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said this week that Lance will play at some point during the 2021 season. Jimmy Garoppolo is still expected by most to be the starter at quarterback, at least initially, so it’ll be on Lance to make sure he’s ready when his name is called. He spoke briefly about what his approach will be to that situation.
“Taking every rep like it’s a game,” Lance said. “Same thing all the other quarterbacks are doing in the room. Being locked in in meetings, things like that. It’s just playing football. Being in training camp, it’s just kind of how it goes.”
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