Kyle Shanahan, the Niners' head coach, has an idea of who will be starting at quarterback in Week 1, but he hasn't announced it yet. (0:39).
SANTA CLARA (Calif.) -- Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers' coach, declined another chance to name their Week 1 quarterbacks on the day that the Jacksonville Jaguars & Denver Broncos were officially naming them.
Shanahan didn't make public his decision between Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, just as he did Sunday night following the Niners' preseason match against the Los Angeles Chargers. However, he did acknowledge that he knows the direction it is heading, but he also left himself some leeway in case anything changes.
Shanahan stated, "I have a pretty good idea." "But, as you can see, I don’t know what our schedule will look like in a few days," Shanahan said. I have always had a good idea of what my schedule would look like. There are many days in between, at any position.
Garoppolo was then asked about his decision to be the starting quarterback. Although he declined to answer, his big smile when asked seemed to hint at something.
Garoppolo stated, "I have a pretty solid idea." "I'm happy with where I am right now, everything, and the offense as a whole. Kyle is the head man. He will make the call.
Since April's 49ers draft, Shanahan repeatedly referred to Garoppolo, who was the starter, and Lance as the backup. Shanahan believes that this would change if Lance proves that he is a better option for the Niners to win.
Shanahan revealed earlier this month that Lance would be playing this season, at the very least, because most of the training camp and preseason points to that dynamic.
These efforts have increased in recent days. Lance's first-team reps arrived sporadically in the first few weeks and were limited to one running play. This hasn't been true in the last few practices.
Lance participated in an eight-snap series of drills with the starters during a joint workout with Chargers. He then did a few more reps with the starting line in Friday's preseason game. He was more involved in the preseason game on Wednesday with the first team.
After Garoppolo had taken all the starting reps during four team drills, Lance and Garoppolo split work with the starters.
Unofficially, Lance took five photos with the starters during those periods and five with the backups. It was also the first camp Garoppolo had worked with the backups. He did eight reps for the first team, and four for the second.
It is not clear if Lance is still considered a starter. Shanahan hopes Lance and Garoppolo will get used to subscribing in and out to ensure they are ready for Lance's situational snaps. This idea is very similar to the way Drew Brees was used by Taysom Hill at the New Orleans Saints in recent seasons.
Shanahan stated, "I think I'm doing some more of it here the next two weeks just to get used it and stuff, so that the guys get used it." Over the past three years, it has been quite cool to watch New Orleans do it with Drew Brees & Taysom. It took them a while to get into the flow. It's not something you can just say, "Hey, this was what we did in practice, so this is how it will be." It's easy to adjust to this in games, and you can prepare for everything until you actually go through it.
"So, I don’t pretend to have all the answers. You prepare for each situation, you work with the guys to their best ability, then you determine your game plan and figure out how you can win the game. You try to keep your thoughts to that."
Shanahan is expected to announce his starter soon. However, he said that he doesn't believe there's any real competitive advantage, particularly since it was so far away from the Sept. 12 opener at Detroit Lions.
Shanahan stated that he sees one benefit in an announcement.
Shanahan smiled and said that if there was one reason I could think of to name it, it would be to end all those questions. If you can give me another reason why it's a huge advantage that affects our team and helps us, I will name it. It doesn't, I think. You know what? You guys will want an answer. That's fine. It's fine for me to feel the suspense, but I won't just answer it to end your man's suspense.
Shanahan sees the value of building anticipation.
Shanahan laughed and said, "Hey, I'll attempt to get you more clicks,"
