After attempting to trade former starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo all offseason, the San Francisco 49ers made a shocking move to bring him back as a backup quarterback to current starter Trey Lance. Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan insisted that Lance was pleased that Garoppolo was returning but a new report suggests that isn’t actually the case.
Despite Shanahan’s claims that Lance thought it was “awesome” to have Garoppolo back, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated revealed that Lance was “a little annoyed in the immediate aftermath” of the Niners’ decision to keep the former starter.
“So as we said in the mailbag last week, this is in no way ideal,” Breer wrote of the situation. “But I understand why the Niners would do it. There’s too much on the line with the roster to worry about hurt feelings. And while I’d heard Lance was a little annoyed in the immediate aftermath, he’s a smart, mature kid who I believe can handle it. Truth is, if he couldn’t, you might have bigger questions about where the Niners are at the position.”
It’s hard to blame Lance for not necessarily wanting to share the quarterback’s room with a longtime veteran who had hopes of starting somewhere in the league this season. But the Niners will hope the young quarterback can handle the unique situation.
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