Trey Lance will face challenges in his third season with the San Francisco 49ers. The former Top 5 NFL Draft pick is on the heels of a severe injury he sustained last season that kept him out for most of the season. As if it were hard enough, he was also replaced by Brock Purdy, who took the team to the NFC Championship.
Purdy and Lance share a common thread, though. Both sustained major injuries last season. ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ Purdy suffered a UCL injury in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles. So he’s facing an uphill battle as well. Lance stepped in this off-season to get back to work. He’s worked out with Patrick Mahomes and has hit the ground running at minicamp. So much so that others are taking notice, like teammate George Kittle.
“George Kittle on Trey Lance: It’s been fun to connect on plays you might’ve struggled with before,” PFT wrote on the 49ers’ tight end’s comments.
George Kittle on Trey Lance: It's been fun to connect on plays you might've struggled with before. https://t.co/H898HtwyST
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 26, 2023
The Niners’ All-Pro tight end spoke on what he’s seen from Lance this off-season and how he’s progressed. “Trey has been great. I think he took steps forward in the OTAs,” Kittle said via ProFootballTalk. “It’s really fun when you start connecting on plays that you might have struggled [with] in the past, and that’s something that we did at OTAs a couple of times, so that was fun. Got to get a lot of extra work in with them.”
Kittle said he appreciates talking to Lance, developing chemistry, and watching game film with him. He compared it to the dynamic that Mahomes has with All-Pro Travis Kelce.
It seems like no matter who the quarterback is going to be, Kittle will be more than willing to boost their cause.