Thursday wasn’t a great day for the 49ers offense. Each of the three quarterbacks threw an interception, but quarterback Trey Lance wasn’t hanging his head after a tough second day of camp. The second-year QB was able to spin a rough session into a positive.
Lance told reporters in his post-practice press conference that the club doesn’t want any turnovers, much less three. However, he was pleased with the way the offense responded each time.
“I mean, we’re going one day at a time, just trying to get better every single day,” Lance told reporters. “We know that our defense is really good, but I mean, three turnovers, one turnover is, is too many. But just because we have one turnover, I thought we turned the page really well. I thought the next few reps, for all of us, after our turnovers we turned it around really quick, which I think is, is a bigger part than not throwing picks at all.”
Interceptions could easily become a theme this preseason as Lance starts to get further into the offense.
First, he’s facing what might be one of the NFL’s top defenses.
Second, he’s still figuring out what his skill set can and can’t do against NFL defenders. There are going to be throws he made in college that won’t be available in the NFL. He’ll also need to figure out the strengths of his pass catchers.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if there are some practices with multiple INTs as he starts pushing the boundaries of his athleticism. Throwing those interceptions in a practice setting will diminish his chances of repeating that mistake in a game setting. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes famously struggled with interception issues in his first camp.
On the other hand, reports from practice indicated his Thursday interception was a matter of staring down a receiver and allowing safety Jimmie Ward to easily read the throw and step in front for a pick.
Bouncing back from INTs is key though. Even the best QBs turn it over sometimes. As long as Lance and the offense aren’t derailed entirely by mistakes, they should put themselves in a good spot moving into the regular season.
