SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In his first game in 315 days, San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance wasted little time Saturday night in showing his new fan base what he brings to the table against the Kansas City Chiefs.
On just his second preseason pass attempt, Lance uncorked an 80-yard touchdown throw to wide receiver Trent Sherfield.
That play was the highlight of an otherwise tough debut for the No. 3 pick in April’s NFL draft. Lance, who replaced Jimmy Garoppolo after one series for the starting offense, played 29 snaps and went 5-of-14 for 128 yards with the score for a passer rating of 93.8.
Three of Lance’s nine incompletions were drops, including his first pass attempt to starting wideout Brandon Aiyuk. Lance also took four sacks behind an offensive line that was without starting center Alex Mack and left tackle Trent Williams. The signal-caller fumbled once, which he recovered, and had two passes that were nearly intercepted.
But it was Lance’s long touchdown throw to Sherfield that had Levi’s Stadium buzzing. On his second series, Lance dropped back, sold a play-action fake to the right, rolled left and fired about 45 yards in the air to Sherfield, who was wide open and ran untouched into the end zone.
Garoppolo’s lone series ended after an offensive pass interference penalty on tight end Charlie Woerner nullified a third-down completion to Aiyuk. Garoppolo finished 3-of-3 for 26 yards.
The 49ers held many of their key players out of Saturday’s preseason opener. In addition to Williams and Mack, tight end George Kittle, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, linebacker Fred Warner, defensive linemen Arik Armstead, Dee Ford and Nick Bosa and cornerback Jason Verrett were among the 22 players the Niners opted to sit.
Josh Rosen replaced Lance on San Francisco’s second offensive series of the third quarter.