A San Francisco 49ers quarterback has been learning from Patrick Mahomes ahead of the new season.
Trey Lance, 23, the third pick of the 2021 NFL draft, has been working with the two-time Super Bowl champion in the offseason. Jeff Christensen, a private quarterbacks coach, worked with both players in April and had Lance study the reigning Super Bowl MVP in a bid to improve his game.
In a chat with The Athletic, Christensen recalled: “I said, ‘Watch this. Watch what he does here. It was something I was telling him to do that he wasn’t quite doing. And then he saw Patrick apply it perfectly. And I think that visual buy-in, that mental buy-in, helped him past that mental hump.”
He added: “And to his credit he just kept getting better. (Over) the last seven days, every day was a substantial jump.” Both Mahomes and Lance are Christensen's clients and according to the coach, it appears the two quarterbacks have a good relationship.
"Pat really thinks the world of him," Christensen added when talking about Lance. "He's just a really good person, conscientious. He wants to be great." Since entering the league one of Lance’s most significant weaknesses has been his throwing accuracy.
Over the course of his two seasons in the NFL, he completed just 54.9% of his passes, but according to another private quarterback coach Kyle Shanahan, injuries have been a contributing factor. Lance broke his right index finger in the final preseason game of 2021, which hampered him throughout his rookie campaign and the spring period of last year.
He was making steady progress but broke his ankle in the first quarter of week two last year, which ended his season before it even truly began. With the injuries now seemingly behind him, Shanahan has already seen improvements now the young star is back to full fitness.
“He was able to get such a better base in these last two months that I think Trey is the best that we’ve (seen) him right now,” he said. He added: "He spent a whole year throwing without a bent finger, which changed everything and shows the toughness of the kid that he never complained about it. He tried to adjust so he could be out there.”
Lance threw a percentage of 54.7% in 2022 training camp, which trails the mark of 69.3% by Brock Purdy, who is expected to be the 49ers’ starting QB in the upcoming season. However, he is currently recovering from elbow surgery and in his absence the spring practice sessions will be led by Lance, as well as Sam Darnold and new signing Brandon Allen.
