Kyle Shanahan explains why he didn’t play Trey Lance earlier against Jacksonville

0

Jimmy Garoppolo was playing in blowouts all the time when he was Tom Brady’s replacement in New England.

The Patriots drafted Garoppolo in 2014 to be Brady’s heir apparent and the future of their franchise. Seems familiar? Of course, the Patriots eventually traded Garoppolo to the 49ers in 2017, but for three and a half seasons Garoppolo received the Trey Lance treatment on the Patriots. Which means they were slowly preparing him for training to become a starting quarterback.

But Bill Belichick would frequently play Garoppolo at the end of the blowouts just so he could get a feel for being in the squad, calling up plays, making line of scrimmage adjustments, and more. Most of the time Garoppolo didn’t even pass – – he just handed over. Still, Belichick, the greatest head coach of his time, saw the interest in playing Garoppolo as the blowouts ended, and that’s why Garoppolo appeared in 17 games with the Patriots, even though he didn’t. only started two.

So when the 49ers entered the fourth quarter with 27-3 against the Jaguars last Sunday, it was reasonable to expect Kyle Shanahan to play against Lance for most of the fourth quarter as he is the future. of the franchise. Belichick would have played Lance. But Shanahan didn’t face him until the final round of the match with only three minutes remaining. Strange.

On Monday, I questioned Shanahan on a conference call about this decision. Here is my question and its answer.

I: You brought in QB Trey Lance for the final series for obvious reasons. Have you considered bringing him on a series or two before just to get Jimmy out of there and give Trey Lance some more of that gaming experience you say he needs?

SHANAHAN: “No, I didn’t. I don’t think of a single person in these situations. I think of our whole team. I don’t just play a person for their own experience. I’m trying to make a decision on what’s best for the team and how to win that day. And I think it was a three-way game until I got everyone out, not just Trey. Once we kicked that basket I think it was when we had 30 and scored at least four goals. Then I did it on all the defensive guys first and they did a long haul, which I think went from six minutes to three minutes. But then I did it on all the offensive guys too.

You can hear the full interview below.

Share.

Comments are closed.