The 49ers didn’t play Brock Purdy on Sunday, but there were still a lot of eyeballs on their quarterback at the start of their matchup with the Raiders.
Trey Lance got the start and there’s plenty of interest in how the third overall pick of the 2021 draft is developing. The 49ers played Lance for the entire first half and saw the offense go three-and-out three times before tight end Ross Dwelley caught a touchdown off a ricochet on the fourth offensive possession.
Lance finished 10-of-15 for 112 yards while being sacked four times. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that the early struggles weren’t solely on the quarterback’s shoulders.
“It got off to a rough start for everybody. I don’t put all that on Trey,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “I mean, three three-and-outs for the whole offense the first three times, so I don’t put that all on Trey by any means. I thought the whole offense was sloppy to start.”
Lance took a different view of the offense’s struggles. He said he “put it on myself” when he spoke to reporters after the game, but neither view did anything to suggest that the 49ers should be altering their plans to move forward with Purdy as their starting quarterback.
