49ers: Shanahan ‘never got that urge’ to play Lance in Week 2.
49ers’ coach ‘never got that urge’ to play rookie in Philly
One day after his team weathered another wave of injuries to its running backs, survived an anemic offensive start and scratched out a 17-11 road victory, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan found himself talking about backup quarterback Trey Lance on Monday.
Well, naturally.
Lance did not play at all in Sunday’s inartistic triumph over Philadelphia. Shanahan stayed with Jimmy Garoppolo, who was steady and turnover-free in guiding the 49ers to their second consecutive win to begin the season.
Shanahan offered some news in Monday’s conference call with reporters — most notably, running back JaMycal Hasty will be out “a while” with a high ankle sprain — but his comments about Lance figure to command the most attention.
“I never have a plan that I’m going to use him or I’m not going to use him,” Shanahan said. “It’s always an option throughout the game. … You saw when I did in Week 1, and I never got that urge in Week 2.”
Asked about the argument that Lance needs to play to develop, Shanahan replied, “Yeah, I understand every angle people want to take. But I also understand we’re an NFL team, we’re trying to win each game and we have a starting quarterback. That usually makes it pretty simple.”
Lance played four snaps, including a 5-yard touchdown pass, in the season-opening win Sept. 12 over Detroit. This time, he stood on the sideline and watched Garoppolo complete 22 of 30 passes and lift the 49ers from their early sluggishness.
So, based on Shanahan’s remarks, Garoppolo could fly solo again in Sunday night’s home opener against Green Bay. But it also seems reasonable to expect Shanahan would find some situations in which to insert Lance, as he did against the Lions.
“When your backup quarterback has a skill set that can bring different things to the game, that’s what gives us an option,” Shanahan said. “It’s an awesome club we have in our bag, that we can use at any time.
“But you don’t really make decisions on how it is for him in the future. I think that’d be irresponsible to everybody else in the room. You do it if you think it gives you a chance based on what’s going on in that game.”
Either way, the 49ers figure to learn much more about themselves in the next three weeks. They face the Packers with Aaron Rodgers, followed by the Seahawks with Russell Wilson and the Cardinals with Kyler Murray.
That’s a significantly more imposing challenge than the Lions (Jared Goff) and Eagles (Jalen Hurts).
Plus, the 49ers enter this stretch hobbled at running back. In addition to Hasty’s impending absence, Elijah Mitchell (shoulder) is day-today and Trey Sermon is in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Shanahan said there’s a chance the 49ers will promote Kerryon Johnson, now on the practice squad, to the active roster.
At least three running backs will work out this week for the 49ers, according to Shanahan — T.J. Yeldon (Jaguars, Bills), Duke Johnson (Browns, Texans) and Lamar Miller (Dolphins, Texans, Bears). Miller, 30, is the most accomplished of the three, with 89 career starts and nearly 5,900 yards rushing.
Other injuries of note in the wake of Sunday’s game: Defensive tackle Kevin Givens (sprained ankle) will be out a while, and cornerback Josh Norman (ankle) is day-to-day. Shanahan said the 49ers will monitor defensive lineman Arik Armstead (adductor) as they did last week, and they also will manage the workload of defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw (knee).
The 49ers hope to get cornerback Emmanuel Moseley (knee) back this week. Moseley was inactive Sunday in Philadelphia.
Shanahan found few surprises in watching video of the win against a stout, defensive-minded Eagles team.
“They did some good things offensively that I think our D stepped up and was able to stop,” he said. “They had a number of big plays our guys were able to recover from and keep them out of the end zone. On offense, they made us work for every single yard. Tough game.”