49ERS QB TREY LANCE OUT AFTER SEASON-ENDING SURGERY ON ANKLE
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury in his team’s 27-7 win against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi Stadium on Sunday.
The second-year quarterback was handed the starting job by head coach Kyle Shanahan after being named the starter during the off-season. Lance is expected to miss the rest of the year after having surgery to repair two injuries on his fractured ankle on Monday morning.
The former North Dakota State QB, was hurt on a 2nd down and 8 designed quarterback run late in the first quarter, a play that was defended by head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday. “Buffalo does it all the time with their quarterback,” Shanahan said. “It’s a pretty normal play. It’s part of football and it’s unfortunate that he hurt his ankle on it. Very normal run play. You guys should watch other people.”
The organization is confident Lance will make a full recovery as they released a statement on Monday afternoon that read: “San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance underwent successful surgery on his injured right ankle this morning, an injury that occurred in yesterday’s game versus the Seattle Seahawks.”
“Surgery was performed at Stanford Hospital and repaired two injuries to Lance’s ankle, a fibula fracture and ligament disruption. Lance will start the rehab process, and head team physician Dr. Tim McAdams is confident that he will recover completely in time for a full return in the 2023 season.”
Lance confirmed after having surgery that it had been a success and that he was raring to “attack the rehab process.” “I will be back better than ever,” Lance wrote on his Twitter page. “This chapter is going to make the story even greater.”
The devastating injury to Lance means the last time the former Bison quarterback played two full games of football was in the 2019 season when he led his team to a 2020 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game. Lance opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID and came back to only play one game before sitting during his rookie year as a backup to Jimmy Garoppolo.
The ankle injury is understood to be a fractured and dislocated injury and not a compound fracture like the one Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s suffered two years ago. The team is still all-in on the 22-year-old and Lance is expected to carry out his rehab process in the Bay Area to be around the team as much as possible.
Head Coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters “As soon as he can get back in here and start rehabbing, we’re going to want him [to be] a part of everything. Every meeting he can be at, every practice he can be at. I know he’s not going to be able to do all of that because of how much he has got to rehab but especially in those meetings and stuff, we don’t plan on Trey being away from us at all. Whenever he’s not taking care of his ankle, we plan on him being with us.”
The season-ending injury to Lance means the Niners will now carry on with Jimmy Garoppolo, cashing in on their insurance policy after refusing to trade the former New England Patriot this offseason. Garoppolo spent all of training camp at the 49ers’ facility but threw away from the rest of the team on a side field as the organization made sure its players were aware that it was Lance’s team. The veteran took over the reins on Sunday and managed the game to ensure a 49ers victory, completing 13 of 21 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown, rushing for five yards, and even scoring a touchdown with his feet.
As per his newly reworked contract, Garoppolo will earn $250,000 per game if he plays at least 25% of the snaps. If the 49ers win that game, then that number jumps up to $350,000. As the starter going forward, the 30-year-old now has the chance to earn up to $5.6 million via incentives in the regular season.
While the team is devastated for Lance, they still have to carry on with the season and with a quarterback that they’re familiar with. 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel said on Sunday: “Just seeing all the work Trey [Lance] put in from last year to this year, it kinda broke my heart. Praying for him. He’s a great guy. That’s what makes him so special.”
Defensive end Nick Bosa, who has been through a similar injury in his career after tearing his ACL in week 2 of the 2020 season, offered some perspective for his young quarterback. “It’s the worst part of the game,” Bosa said. “It happens instantly and there’s no going back. Once it happens, you feel like your life is over for a certain amount of time. Then that [surgery] starts your road back. It’s not going to be easy, but he will be back and he’ll be fine. It’s just really tough right now.”
The Seahawks were also empathetic after Lance went down and said in a tweet: “Prayers up, Trey Lance.”
The 49ers will now have to sign a third quarterback since 2022 seventh-round pick Brock Purdy is now Garoppolo’s only backup. “We’ll see what’s out there,” Shanahan said. “We definitely need a guy in here for the practice squad because we need a third man up in case something happens because he’s one play away from being the backup and he’s two plays away from being our starter.”
The Niners released Nate Sudfeld, who’s now on the Detroit Lions’ 53-man roster as Jared Goff’s backup, during roster cuts last month. Luckily, the team is not short of options and has even been linked to high-profile current free agent quarterback Cam Newton.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Casey McNeil.