When the San Francisco 49ers named Sam Darnold their backup quarterback this week, it seemed to spell the end of Trey Lance’s time with them.
There is speculation they will start to listen to trade offers for Lance, even though general manager John Lynch has downplayed those rumors by saying the North Dakota State University product will “most likely” remain with them.
Veteran quarterback Nick Foles appeared on “Up & Adams” recently and encouraged Lance to remain positive and says this experience will help moving forward.
“Stay in the moment…What he’s going through right now is going to help him in the future.”@NickFoles knows exactly the experience Trey Lance is going through.
📺: @FanDuelTV | @heykayadams | @treylance09 pic.twitter.com/nvXXM7Xibb
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) August 24, 2023
Foles can relate to what Lance is going through, as he replaced the injured Carson Wentz with the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2017 season and led them to a Super Bowl championship.
When Wentz was cleared to play the following year, Foles went back to being a backup.
Lance was named the starter ahead of last season for San Francisco, but his year ended prematurely in Week 2 when he suffered a severe ankle injury.
He was replaced by veteran Jimmy Garoppolo, who was then replaced by rookie Brock Purdy after suffering his own season-ending injury, and Purdy played excellent ball the rest of the way.
Purdy proved he is clearly more NFL-ready, which led the 49ers to name him the starter going into the 2023 campaign.
Another parallel Lance can look to for inspiration is the career of Steve Young, the Niners’ last true franchise QB.
Young started his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back when they were a laughingstock, and he played poorly in two seasons there.
They felt he was a bust and decided to go with 1987 first-round pick Vinny Testaverde as their starter, which led to Young being traded to the Niners.
It was only a matter of time before Young took over for the aging and increasingly brittle Joe Montana, and once he did so, he led the team to a Super Bowl championship during the 1994 season.
His six touchdown passes in Super Bowl XXIX are still a Super Bowl record.
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Chris Broussard Has Encouraging Message For Trey Lance