The San Francisco 49ers will take on the Los Angeles Chargers this Saturday, which means the team may face former draft bust Trey Lance.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear he did not want to relitigate the past, though.
Shanahan was asked about Lance in his weekly press conference. Specifically he was asked to evaluate the player the Niners took with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
He was not having it and refused to go there:
"I don't wanna sit here and evaluate Trey again. I'm pullin' for Trey, I love Trey. One of the best people I've been around and I really hope it works out for him."
Kyle Shanahan on taking on Chargers backup Trey Lance for the first time since trading him in 2023. pic.twitter.com/lO0tu0V683
— KNBR (@KNBR) August 19, 2025
Shanahan said, "I don't wanna sit here and evaluate Trey again. I'm pullin' for Trey, I love Trey. One of the best people I've been around and I really hope it works out for him."
This is the right and classy response from Shanahan. He has acknowledged in the past that it was a mistake for the team to have taken Lance. Yet, he has always wished Lance nothing but the best even though things went pretty terribly for him in San Francisco.
Of course, it is a little bit easier to take the high road when the 49ers lucked out by selecting Brock Purdy with the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft and watched him turn into their franchise quarterback.
Lance has struggled in his NFL career, but it seems like he may be turning a bit of a corner in L.A. He has former Niners head coach and noted QB whisperer Jim Harbaugh as his coach now, so maybe he is working some of his magic on the young signal-caller.
He has made some good plays in the preseason and he has completed 27 of his 49 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns compared to no interceptions. It is only the preseason, so it would be a mistake to put too much stock in his play. But Lance has at least shown positive signs and could be a decent backup.
Having both Harbaugh and Lance back at Levi's Stadium will be a little awkward given how their tenures ended in San Francisco.
Yet, publicly, everything is water under the bridge, which is the way it should be. All parties involved are looking towards the future, which is exactly what Shanahan should be doing since he has a tall task ahead of him in 2025 to get the most out of the 49ers.
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