Trey Lance’s touchdown pass against the Raiders in the 49ers preseason opener didn’t go exactly to plan. Lance on a play action bootleg rolled left, then tried fitting a throw in to wide receiver Chris Conley who found some room in the middle of the end zone. A Raiders defensive back got his hands on the throw for what looked like an interception, but he couldn’t hold on and it landed in the hands of 49ers tight end Ross Dwelley for the team’s lone TD of the day.
It looked initially like the play was designed for Conley and Lance perhaps saw it late and got the ball out late as a result. Head coach Kyle Shanahan dispelled that notion after the game, and actually praised Lance for finding what was his last read on that play.
“Made a hell of a play on the touchdown,” Shanahan said in his postgame press conference. “I know it was almost a hell of a play for them with the pick. But that was the last guy on a bootleg that flashed and he put it on him. And that (Raiders DB) came in and tipped and made a good play, but fortunately Dwelley was there.”
The 49ers head coach elaborated further:
“It was an open hole. I mean, it was nice that he saw it, flipped and went for it. I’m glad that he tried to rip it. It was a tight window. He could put it a little bit more in front of him, but the guy came and made a good play on it and it ended up working out for us.”
It wasn’t a perfect day for Lance, who started and completed 10-of-15 throws for 112 yards and one touchdown. He took four sacks, a couple of which could be attributed to the QB holding the ball too long. There were also a couple of missed throws, but he got in a nice rhythm on the scoring drive and was rewarded for trying to fit a throw into a tight window.
Ultimately Shanahan’s evaluation and his feeling about the QBs will bear itself out in how they’re splitting practice and game reps moving forward.
