Shanahan: No change in 49ers' QB status after Lance's two TDs in pre-season win

Kyle Shanahan said nothing has changed regarding the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback situation after two pre-season games, but he declined to officially name a starter. Rookie Trey Lance had another impressive showing in Sunday's 15-10 win against the Los Angeles Chargers, but the San Francisco head coach would not be drawn on whether Lance or incumbent Jimmy Garoppolo would start the season opener. 

Garoppolo started Sunday's game and led a 15-play drive that ended when he was intercepted deep in Chargers territory.  Lance then came on for three unproductive series, including an interception of his own, before leading a pair of touchdown drives. The third overall pick in this year's NFL Draft led San Francisco down the field with less than a minute to play in the first half, hitting Mohamed Sanu for a five-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds remaining. 

After a three-and-out on the 49ers' first possession of the second half, Lance engineered an 11-play drive that ended in a 16-yard TD pass to Travis Benjamin for what proved to be the final score of the game. Garoppolo finished three-of-six passing for 15 yards, while Lance was eight-of-14 for 102 yards. 

Shanahan said going into camp that the veteran Garoppolo was the presumptive starter and was asked following Sunday's game whether anything had changed. "No, I haven't seen that," he told reporters. "I would love for it to be more and more each week but I think the situation is pretty similar right now."

Lance under the microscope

Shanahan said he appreciated the scrutiny Lance is under, both internally and externally, but was pleased with the way he played Sunday. "I understand whatever Trey does the eyes are going to be on him," Shanahan said. "I don't want him to have that pressure but that's also the reality of this business. I thought last week he had that big throw which, I think, it's fun to watch for a lot of people so that takes a little pressure off, but he didn't play after that as good as he would have liked to. This week I thought he came out much more locked-in, more comfortable."

Shanahan had originally planned to give Garoppolo the opening series, then Lance the next two, before putting Garoppolo back in for another series, but he scrapped those plans after the opening drive ended up being so long. He will have one more chance to evaluate his quarterbacks in game conditions in Sunday's pre-season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders. 

The 49ers open the season on 12 September at the Detroit Lions, and Shanahan acknowledged only that he would name a starter by then. "It's hard for me to give a date when it's based off of when we know and when we feel like naming it," the coach said. "So, whenever that happens. But I promise it'll be by that Sunday."