The San Francisco 49ers seem to be in good hands with rookie Brock Purdy at quarterback. He has kept the team's win streak, now at nine games, alive after replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, who replaced an injured Trey Lance.
On Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about his two recovering quarterbacks, starting with Lance. The second-year quarterback suffered a season-ending ankle injury during Week 2 but is expected to be ready to go for the upcoming offseason activities.
"Trey's been great," Shanahan said. "I haven't had to go through it, but I've seen players do it. I can't tell you how hard it is for guys when they get hurt at the beginning of the year because of their expectations going in, how big of a part of the team they are, especially when it's the quarterback. And just like that, their season's over. And Trey's had to do the rehab hard. Once he started traveling with us and stuff and be a part of everything, I think it got a little bit easier. But it's always a challenge for a guy. They want to be out there so bad.
"Trey's handled it great, as good as any injured player I've ever been around. He stays positive. He comes off the right way. But I know it's a challenge for him."
Lance underwent a second surgery on December 30 to remove the hardware inserted into his right ankle from his first surgery on September 19. The hardware in place was causing Lance some irritation in his ankle, which wasn't unexpected. The quarterback immediately reported the discomfort to the team.
"Having to get the new surgery, it hasn't been a surprise for us," Shanahan said. "We've known that for a little bit, and we knew there was a high chance of that happening anyways. When he went into it, he broke a bone. And the first thing was they had to fix that break. And once they fixed the break, there was always worry when you fix the break, will that rub the wrong way or something like that?
"They fixed the break great, and then they knew they had to go in and fix that, which he's known for a while. They went in and cleaned it up, and I think that even made him feel better. So he could move on from that, and he's feeling great now with his rehab, and I know he can't wait to get to this offseason."
Garoppolo went down with a broken foot during Week 13. There is a slight chance that the quarterback could be available in some capacity should the 49ers make a deep enough playoff run.
"That's still the goal," Shanahan said. "... I think he can put a little weight on [the foot], but he's not out there running and stuff like that. That's a little bit aways."
