49ers' Trey Lance: Rotating role possible

Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo split first-team reps at Wednesday's practice, and head coach Kyle Shanahan suggested after the session that the two could be deployed in a manner similar to the quarterback substitutions utilized by the Saints with Drew Brees and Taysom Hill over the last couple years, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Shanahan appears to have decided on a starting quarterback for Week 1, but he won't officially name him, and he's now openly discussing rotating the two signal-callers. Garoppolo is the clear favorite to open the season as the starter given how reps have been split to this point, but Lance could still see some early-season opportunities if Shanahan follows through with the sub packages. However, it's unclear just how much playing time the rookie would receive in that specialized role.