Trey Lance ankle injury: How long will the 49ers QB be out?

The San Francisco 49ers are in the weirdest of weird spots. Having gone through eight months of twisting, torturous, writhing over the quarterback spot, they made the decision to offer up Jimmy Garoppolo for trade in favor of starting their 2021 first-round pick Trey Lance. Months of media speculation over who, if anyone, would trade for Jimmy G ended for good, when in week two, less than five quarters into his new role, Trey Lance’s season ended.

“It’s always tough, especially when it’s a big one like that,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. “You feel for someone so bad. It’s sad but you don’t have time to sit there and think about it. You’ve got to get right back to the game, and the guys did a real good job of that. I’m really happy about the win, but it’s a little somber once you get in the locker room.”

The injury came on a second down option play where Lance chose to keep the ball and run it up the middle. Seattle Seahawks linebacker Cody Barton made the stop after a two-yard gain and Lance came down awkwardly with his ankle folding beneath him. Collapsing after trying to get back to his feet, the cart was brought out and the game was handed over to Garoppolo, who led the 49ers to a 27-7 win.

In week 1, Lance completed 13 of 28 passes for 164 yards and an interception in a 10–19 loss to the Chicago Bears. Last season, Lance got the start twice, one of them a loss to the Arizona Cardinals in which he suffered a knee sprain. In pre-season this year, he had a finger broken, a factor which led to Shanahan’s decision to bring Jimmy G back into the fold.

Despite not being under center with the starting squad at all this year, Garoppolo said that he felt good and that running the Niners’ offense was “like riding a bike.” Jimmy Garoppolo, for all of the bad press that he has gotten around the league, is the best 49ers quarterback since Steve Young and has been singled out as a key figure in the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl XLIX victory during his time as Tom Brady’s understudy there.

When he came into the game against Seattle, Garoppolo completed 13 of 21 for 154 yards and a touchdown, before rushing for his own touchdown to seal the scoring. His surgically repaired right shoulder showed no sign of trouble, but Jimmy G says that it is not all about that. “It was more just about getting the shoulder ready. Mentally, I knew the scheme. Some of the new plays took a little while to learn, there’s always some new wrinkles in the offense, but for the most part it was just, ‘Once my shoulder was good, I was ready to roll.’”

After the trade fiasco that San Francisco and Garoppolo have endured for the past eight months, his $24 million contract was whittled down to only $6.5 million fully guaranteed. With incentives for playing time added in, he will now earn up to $16 million if he plays the rest of the season and the team has any sort of success.

Sunday’s win saw him earn a bonus of $250,000 for playing more than 25% of the snaps and an extra $100,000 for the win. But it isn’t all about the money for Garoppolo. “It felt good to be back out there, but I felt terrible for Trey. I’ve been on that side in this league. It’s tough. Every person has their share of injuries. But that sucks for him and I feel bad for him, but he’s our brother and we’ll pick him up.”

As bad as this is for Lance, it could be a dose of healing for the 49ers, who have been torn apart by this quarterback saga. Part of the ugly dealing was the way that it was all gone about, with the 49ers signing a big deal, then suddenly trying to trade him, and then tearing up the deal and reworking a new cut-price deal. It all simply stank. And if it made the league wonder what was wrong with Jimmy for them to want to get rid of him, it also made everyone wonder if San Francisco could be trusted. If they will treat him that way, their word is of no value to anyone, ever.

However, if Garoppolo can lead the 49ers back to the playoffs, and perhaps even beyond, then maybe this season can be a salve on the open wound in the Bay Area. Then, if they still want to deal him away, everyone can walk away from the season with their head held high, and the Trey Lance era can begin with a clean slate.