With an easy grin and a slight chuckle, it’s pretty clear Kyle Shanahan’s having some fun with this.
Having previously stated he had a “pretty good idea” who his starting quarterback would be for Week 1 against the Detroit Lions, Shanahan on Wednesday told reporters, “I bet you guys could figure it out,” shortly after telling them he didn’t need to make an announcement as to whether Jimmy Garoppolo or rookie Trey Lance would get the nod.
And so it goes that the 49ers head coach, who began training camp saying there was no open quarterback competition, has yet to make anything official.
With the majority of Wednesday’s questions coming in relation to Tuesday’s cutdown day, Shanahan was asked if he’d be unveiling who would return punts for the 49ers.
The follow-up was if he’d announce it the same time as he’d announce the starting quarterback.
“I don’t need to announce the quarterback, I don’t think I need to announce the starting punt returner, either, but I bet you guys could figure it out,” Shanahan said.
Of more concern to Shanahan seems to be the health of Lance, who’s dealing with a chipped finger that was prognosticated to keep the first-rounder out seven days. While that timeline holds, Shanahan spoke of caution despite the perceived minor tag of the injury.
“I mean, anytime you’ve got a small chip, it could linger,” Shanahan said. “I hope it doesn’t, I’m hoping he’s back there next Monday. He seems positive about it. But we gotta be smart with it, too. Sometimes when it’s a real little thing like that, it’s hard to believe it’s still hurt. But we gotta make sure he doesn’t go back out there and have a setback right away, too.”
At practice, Lance was primarily listening, doing things on the side, such as working on his footwork, Shanahan said.
Still, he appears on track to be ready to return to practice next week and in plenty of time for the season opener. Whether Lance or Garoppolo gets the start, well, at this rate, perhaps that won’t be known until after kickoff.
