It’s not exactly all roses inside the 49ers’ locker room right now. In fact, quite the opposite.
Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young believes the 49ers are panicking behind closed doors after losing four straight games.
Young joined KNBR 680’s “Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks Show” on Wednesday where he discussed the 49ers’ losing streak, and how the quarterback situation has impacted the locker room.
“I give Jimmy a tremendous amount of credit for dealing with this through March, April, May, June, July, and August really well,” Young said. “And into September, really. Better than you can even ask somebody to kind of buck up, go play well, look for your next job, deal with it every day in the locker room. So, it’s been the undercurrent of everything that’s happened in training camp and on. It’s what’s happening at quarterback. (h/t 49ers Webzone)
“And the team, the locker room, you guys have heard me talk about the locker room, has its own heartbeat, its own ecosystem, and in 2019, we had the best locker room in the league. And why we went to the Super Bowl was a lot of reasons, but the main reason was the resiliency of that locker room, and the leadership, and the people that came out of it, the people that spoke for it. They dealt with all the problems. They didn’t need the coach to come in and deal with it. They dealt with all the hard things that came up week in and week out.”
Six weeks into the season, the 49ers (2-4) find themselves in a distant third place in NFC West. They’ve lost multiple games by one score or less, the offense has been inconsistent, and there doesn’t appear to be an obvious answer as to who should be the starting quarterback.
“I sensed in the game on Sunday, just against the Colts, I always think about who has the more resilient locker room,” Young continued. “I’m watching the game, thinking about it, watching, and you can feel it. Maybe it’s just me, but I can watch and feel the resiliency. And I feel our locker room is not great, and I’m worried that it’s fraught with terror because now, six weeks in, Trey would be playing if he was ready to play. It’s too late, so we’re in.”
The 49ers have rallied around Garoppolo since he joined the team in 2017 in a trade from the New England Patriots. He’s been the guy, and each and every one of his teammates has had his back.
Now, there’s a new kid on the block. Trey Lance is the future of this team, which coach Kyle Shanahan has made clear. The rookie has shown what he is capable of doing and has provided a spark to the offense at times when Garoppolo and the entire unit has struggled to move the ball. Not to mention that Lance is already admired by many of his teammates, and has made great strides thus far.
RELATED: McDaniel believes Jimmy G is handling fan criticism well
As you can understand, the 49ers’ locker room might be conflicted and confused as to what the path forward is. It can’t be easy supporting two quarterbacks at once and toeing the line between following the direction of two leaders.
“But then Jimmy goes and plays, and you can see that the locker room wants to support somebody,” Young added. “Two good guys. This is a Super Bowl roster, and they want that locker room to be cohesive. And this situation has made it very difficult to have a cohesive locker room even though both guys have played their parts really well. They’re not toxic. They’re trying to do the best they can. So, that’s why I say it’s fraught with terror because you just hope that something positive comes out of Chicago, and if there’s something positive that comes out of Chicago, we can eke out some more weeks through this thing without too much more damage to the season, to Jimmy, to Trey.”
If the 49ers are able to escape their Week 8 matchup against the Chicago Bears with a win, it would certainly instill more confidence in a group that has been free-falling out of the playoff picture in recent weeks.
