49ers HC Kyle Shanahan talks Trey Lance handling criticism

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan praised Trey Lance on Wednesday for how the young quarterback is handling criticism thrown his way throughout the preseason. 

"Trey is extremely smart, very socially aware. He knows how the world works," Shanahan told reporters, as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "So, he does his best — which I think he does a damn good job of — [in] trying to block all that out and focus on getting better. I think that’s what he’s done so far." 

Numerous analysts blasted Lance following his lackluster performance in this past Sunday's 34-7 preseason loss at the Las Vegas Raiders. ESPN personality Marcus Spears went one step further and said the 49ers' decision to sacrifice multiple draft assets to ultimately take Lance with the third overall pick of the 2021 player-selection process "may go down as one of the worst trades in the draft in the history of the NFL." 

Shanahan understands that such takes about Lance aren't disappearing anytime soon, especially with the 49ers preparing to start 2022 rookie sensation Brock Purdy at the position in Week 1 of the regular season next month. 

"It goes with it for quarterbacks, it goes with it for anybody who’s a high draft pick, but especially a quarterback," Shanahan added about what's been written and said about Lance. "That’s one of the tough things for that position but also high draft picks. I mean, you watch receivers come in the league and they have a few drops early in camp and it becomes a lot of pressure on them. People want to see those people take off and do it right away and have no flaws. And that’s just part of it." 

Lance has already lost the San Francisco starting job to Purdy and appears on track to begin the upcoming season as the team's third-choice option behind free-agency signing Sam Darnold. At this point, it seems Lance will find himself auditioning for other clubs during this Saturday's exhibition match-up versus the Denver Broncos. 

If Lance looks as lost against Denver as he did versus Las Vegas, Shanahan and company may soon need to have some difficult conversations regarding the 23-year-old's future.