San Francisco 49ers To Lean On Jimmy Garoppolo As Trey Lance Sustains Injury

The San Francisco 49ers' fate for the 2022-23 NFL season took a different twist after Trey Lance suffered a season-ending injury against the Seattle Seahawks.

It was an unfortunate start for Lance after the 22-year-old suffered a broken right ankle in the first quarter of the game against the Seahawks.

Lance will need to undergo season-ending surgery, meaning San Francisco will turn to Jimmy Garoppolo anew for the starting quarterback duty.

"It's unfortunate for him," head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game via NFL.com. "We're really hurting for him and we were really hoping to see a lot of him this year. So, to see him have that bad of an injury to where he can't come back from it, you feel for him"

The third overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft had completed two of three passes for 30 yards, not to mention adding 13 rushing yards before he was carted out of the game

Lance was tackled to the ground in an option run up the middle, and critics criticized Shanahan's call.

However, the Niners coach responded to these criticisms.

"Buffalo does it all the time with their quarterbacks. It's a pretty normal play. It's part of football, and it's unfortunate that he hurt his ankle on it. Very normal... You should watch some other people," Shanahan stated.

San Francisco went on to win 27-7 over Seattle. But the bigger question is who the Niners will get to serve as backup to Garoppolo.

According to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, San Francisco is likely to use fullback Kyle Juszczyk as one of its possible backup play-callers.

Beyond that, it remains unknown for now if the Niners will consider some of the available quarterbacks in free agency

Among the names that could make sense include Cam Newton, Mike Glennon, Garrett Gilbert, Carson Strong, Ben DiNucci, Matt Barkley and A.J. McCarron.

From that list alone, there is no doubt that Newton–a former NFL MVP–could make the most sense if Shanahan is prowling for a backup quarterback.