San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance could make his second start of the season on Sunday against the Houston Texans. That all depends heavily on the status of starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's thumb. On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that Garoppolo sustained a right thumb sprain.
The quarterback did not practice on Monday, and the 49ers will re-evaluate him before Wednesday's practice. Understandably, Shanahan didn't provide too many details about the injury, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that it may be "a more significant injury."
49ers' QB Jimmy Garoppolo suffered what is thought to be "a more significant injury" than a right thumb sprain, per source.
The season of QB throwing hand injuries - see Russell Wilson, Taysom Hill - continues.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2021
That brings Garoppolo's availability for a crucial Week 17 matchup into question. Shanahan was asked if Lance might get more playing time due to Garoppolo's injury.
"Definitely, if Jimmy's not playing," Shanahan responded. "I don't really want to decide that until I watch the Texans, and we just finished with our guys, so I'm about to jump into them now. But there's a chance."
Shanahan believes Lance has shown a lot of progress in recent weeks and might be prepared to lead the 49ers offense in Garoppolo's absence—if necessary.
"I think this last month with Trey has been his best consecutive four weeks of practice since we've had him," Shanahan said. "He's had a number of good days, and he's had some bad days like most guys do. But as far as his consistency and stuff, I feel this last month has been his best."
Of course, all of that has been on the scout team.
Shanahan added that if Garoppolo can play, but the injury impacts his throws, that might mean Lance starts in place of him anyway.
"I feel like if that was the case at any time this year, if Jimmy, he was struggling to throw at his best, I think we would have gone with Trey," Shanahan said.