Trey Lance Suffered a Fibula Fracture and a Ligament Disruption

It's notable that the 49ers expect Lance to make a full return "in the 2023 season," not necessary at the beginning of it.

Grant Cohn | Sep 19, 2022

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San Francisco 49ers

Trey Lance apparently suffered two injuries Sunday against the Seahawks, not just one.

The 49ers just sent out a press release stating that Lance had successful surgery this morning. "Surgery was performed at Stanford Hospital and repaired two injuries to Lance’s ankle, a fibula fracture and ligament disruption," the 49ers wrote. "Lance will start the rehab process, and head team physician Dr. Tim McAdams is confident that he will recover completely in time for a full return in the 2023 season.”

It's not a shock that Lance injured a ligament when he broke his ankle -- those injuries often go together. In retrospect, Lance is lucky he didn't seriously injure his knee, as it should be easier to make a full recovery from a broken ankle.

Still, it's notable that the 49ers expect Lance to make a full return "in the 2023 season," not necessary at the beginning of it. Which means Lance's recovery timetable is murky. Apparently, it could drag into the next season. And if that happens, who will be the 49ers' starting quarterback for Week 1 of 2023?

Probably not Jimmy Garoppolo -- he'll be a free agent, and the 49ers have been trying to replace him for years.

It's possible the 49ers could make another run at Aaron Rodgers if he opts out of his contract and becomes a free agent next offseason. Remember, Rodgers wanted out of Green Bay and reportedly was convinced he was getting traded to the 49ers before the 2021 draft.

Stay tuned.

Published Sep 19, 2022

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.