San Francisco 49ers rookie QB Trey Lance replaces Jimmy Garoppolo, who’s set to have MRI on calf

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Despite a barrage of seemingly endless questions about his quarterback situation, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan persisted that the plan was to ride with incumbent Jimmy Garoppolo as rookie Trey Lance evolves.

But if Garoppolo misses the games due to injuring his right calf in Sunday’s 28-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Shanahan will have no choice.

“We’ve been playing rookie running backs since the second game of the first game, and we just got a rookie quarterback,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully Jimmy is better and not as bad as we think, but Trey is here for a reason. You want to give him time, you want him to be completely ready, but you don’t always have that luxury. “

Garoppolo said he would have an MRI on his right calf on Monday morning. The Niners are also concerned about Trent Williams’ right shoulder and kicker Robbie Gould’s right groin, both of which require further testing.

Williams left the game on a cart in the fourth quarter and did not return. Gould’s groin problem occurred during the final warm-up exercises and he missed the game when player Mitch Wishnowsky took over the kick and poke.

Garoppolo said he felt the injury for the first time in the game’s opening streak. He didn’t know who it was, but Garoppolo said it felt like someone stepped on his right calf. During the first half, Garoppolo said his calf continued to cramp and he felt the pain spread to his Achilles tendon.

While Garoppolo doesn’t think it’s as serious as an Achilles tendon tear, he hinted that it might take him some time.

“Right now it feels like just the calf,” said Garoppolo. “I hope it’ll only be a couple of weeks or something like that.”

Even if it’s only a couple of weeks, that would mean Lance would make his first NFL regular season start next week against the undefeated Arizona Cardinals on the road. Which means the Niners would have to make some changes to the game board to cater more to Lance’s abilities and limited experience on the full offensive.

It would also mean the Niners would have time to schedule Lance as a starter, which they didn’t have on Sunday. Garoppolo continued playing on the injured right calf in the first half, and wasn’t disqualified until a minute or two before the start of the third quarter.

That decision hit Garoppolo hard, especially given his long history of injuries and the presence of the highly drafted Lance.

“It’s just tough,” said Garoppolo. “I’ve been in this situation too many times and it’s getting really old.”

Garoppolo finished day 14 of 23 for 165 yards with a touchdown, but started 6 of 6 for 70 yards and a touchdown on the first drive. But Garoppolo said he could feel the calf affecting his throws as the half moved on. He went 8 of 17 for 95 yards and an interception after the first drive.

Lance’s first steady job with the starters got off to a difficult start with a pair of three-and-offs and a few ugly imperfections. But he hit receiver Deebo Samuel for a 76-yard touchdown in his third series on a pass that Samuel was 17.6 yards apart at the time of the catch, the most for a receiver on a touchdown this season, according to NFL Next Gene statistics.

Lance seemed to settle in a little from there. After two scores in the fourth quarter, Lance led another scoring drive, beating Samuel for another score, this time from 8 yards. He finished 9 of 18 for 157 yards with the two values ​​for a pass rating of 117.1. He also rushed for 41 yards on seven tries.

He said that he felt his first extended stint included some good and some bad.

“I’ve missed some big ones, missed some easy ones, missed some checkdowns, just definitely a few games that I want back,” said Lance. “I’ll go back tonight and see it and I think I’ll learn a lot from it.”

Shanahan made a similar assessment of Lance’s performance in terms of the kind of improvement needed if Garoppolo isn’t playing next week and Lance is actually needed for his first start.

“He was thrown in without expecting to come in,” Shanahan said. “I thought he ran the ball well, hit some passes, obviously missed some passes, was in a difficult position there when we were two goals back. He did well to move the chains a few times with his legs . But it looked like this. ” like a typical first game. “