SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It was an obvious standout play in his first exhibition game as the 49ers’ unquestioned starting quarterback, underlined later by Trey Lance with an exclamation and a huge grin.
No, it wasn’t the play you expected him to bring up. It wasn’t his spectacular 76-yard touchdown pass to Danny Gray in the first quarter. It didn’t even pick up a first down. But Lance’s focus on and animated chatter about this other play probably told us more about his approach and future than anything else we saw in the 49ers’ 28-21 exhibition-opening victory over the Packers on Friday night at Levi’s Stadium.
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“That was my first time sliding in my whole entire life,” Lance said of his 7-yard gain and skidding stop on the 49ers’ second play of the game. “So that was good. I’m sure the guys were happy.”
He’d never went into a slide to end a run? Even at North Dakota State?
“Never,” Lance said. “You can watch all my games. Never.”
But this is the NFL, where large, swift people can do a lot of damage to quarterbacks. Plus, Lance already was hurt a couple times in his few times on the field as a rookie last year. And this season, he’s QB1. It’s not just the 49ers’ future that depends on a healthy and high-quality Lance, it’s the right now.
And Lance was so determined to get to the ground before he was hit on Friday — with much of the 49ers’ sideline screaming for him to slide — that he came up a little short on the second-and-8 play. But it’s the preseason. It was the second play. He scrambled away from the pass rush, bolted up the middle, picked up some yards and … avoided a clobbering at the end.
“I thought about practicing it,” Lance said of the debut slide. “I kind of pictured it in my head.”
Well, it was a good slide, he was told.
“I appreciate that,” Lance said. “That was my highlight.”
He’s learning. He’s desperately eager to learn. He’s also massively talented. And by every indication, Lance is already quite popular among his teammates. He’s not yet a leader of this team, because that title is earned over time through trial and sweat and in the toughest moments of the regular season and playoffs.
But Lance is a light-hearted, high-wattage star. He’s talkative. He’s dynamic. He listens to his teammates and coaches. Interesting things happen when he’s playing, and the 49ers’ offense simply is more interesting because he’s out there instead of Jimmy Garoppolo.
Such as: The 49ers’ second series of the game, when Lance got to the line on third-and-9, saw that Gray had a chance to run through the Packers’ secondary and fired a strike down the left sideline and let Gray bolt the final 42 yards after the catch.
Trey to Danny Gray ‼️
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) August 13, 2022
Or, as Lance described his thinking: “Throw it to the fast guy. Danny did a great job. He’s done a great job all camp. … Obviously he’s a difference-maker for us on offense. His speed is something I’ve had maybe one other time in my life.”
The other? His old North Dakota State teammate Christian Watson, who happens to play for Green Bay now.
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On this play, Lance had to trust his offensive line, which had given up a sack on first down, and believe that Gray was going to get past defensive back Dallin Leavitt. Then he had to make the throw. And that all happened.
“Just trying to hold the safety; he didn’t get really any depth at all,” Lance said. “So for me, it was kind of a routes-on-air (in practice) play when Danny runs that fast.”
And you know who was running almost as fast as Gray? That’d be Lance, who beamed at the sideline as he raced to the end zone to join the celebration. There was one very specific purpose, Lance said.
“I was just flying after Danny to make sure he didn’t punt the ball into the crowd or anything like that,” Lance said. “I wanted to make sure he got that first touchdown ball. Somebody did it for me last year, George (Kittle) did it for me. So I know it’s a special one to have.”
So there’s another hint about the Lance era: He loves to be around spectacular moments, and he loves to talk about the other players involved when the spectacular things occur.
“Hopefully he doesn’t tire himself out,” tackle Mike McGlinchey joked about watching Lance’s post-TD sprint. “That’s the kind of guy he is, he’s excited for his teammate. It’s Danny’s first career touchdown. It’s a big deal. You had a couple celebrations like that…
“The way that Trey celebrates is just kind of an inside look at what kind of teammate he is.”
That was Lance’s final play of the night. He completed 4 of his 5 passes — his only incompletion coming on a third-down throw in the first series that went a little wide to Gray on the right sideline — for 92 yards and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
Now a hint about how Kyle Shanahan will handle the public assessment of Lance’s play: It sure won’t be gushing. But that’s also a measure of how much confidence the coach has in the young QB. If he thought Lance was fragile, Shanahan might go a little over the top in his praise on every little thing.
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Shanahan is absolutely not going over the top.
“It seemed solid,” Shanahan said of Lance’s night. “He did some good things. Good first game. Wish we could’ve kept him out there more but had to take him out.”
Overall, Lance hit all the subtle notes. He got the offense in and out of the huddle smoothly. There were no false starts. No penalties at all. On the first drive, the 49ers’ got a Robbie Gould field goal. The TD culminated the second drive.
And oh: Lance didn’t get hurt. Again, it was just two series in a preseason game in August, but after some struggles against the 49ers’ defense in training camp, the Lance offense suddenly looked quite capable on Friday. And Lance looked like he was built for this stage.
“I thought he looked great,” McGlinchey said. “And it’s no surprise to anybody. Trey’s been that way all camp. He’s looked great all camp. I think he’s in full command of what’s going on right now and he’s only going to get better. Definitely excited to see what’s to come. Tonight’s just a little show for what he’s capable of.”
There will surely be rough moments for Lance and the 49ers’ offense this season, of course, just like there have been rough moments in training camp and before that in his spot play last season. The NFL is not set up to be kind to first-year starting QBs.
Which is why Shanahan was a bit frustrated at Lance’s short stint — and Shanahan’s own plan to hold Lance out of next week’s game in Minnesota (after two joint practices with the Vikings, which Lance will participate in). The 49ers want Lance to grow and learn after barely playing the previous two seasons. The best and only real way to do that is for him to get as many reps as possible.
But Lance is also proving why he’s worth everything the 49ers gave up to get him and why it’s so important that they do as much as possible to keep him away from risky moments.
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“We’ve got an explosive room, from all cylinders,” receiver Ray-Ray McCloud said. “Running back, tight ends, quarterback, everywhere.”
Which makes Lance increasingly vital to everything they want to do this season. They can’t expose him too much in a meaningless exhibition game. And that’s why most of the sideline was screaming for Lance to slide on the game’s second play and it’s why he did, for the first time in his football career. Because he’s so important. You can’t miss it.
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)