Albert Breer: Trey Lance was “annoyed” when told of Jimmy Garoppolo’s return

Yesterday Albert Breer found out that hard way what happens when you wade into the shark-infested waters of the 49ers’ quarterback situation.

“While I’d heard Lance was a little annoyed in the immediate aftermath [of Garoppolo returning],” Breer wrote in his Monday Morning Quarterback column, “He’s a smart, mature kid who I believe can handle it. Truth is, if he couldn’t, you might have bigger questions about where the 49ers are at the position.”

He later went on 95.7 The Game and gave this lengthy answer when asked about the report.

“These things tend to get picked up and start arguments on social media so I think it’s important to make sure people know what I meant when I wrote that.

From what I understand, Trey Lance’s reaction I think was pretty natural. I think it was complicated news for him to take. One of the reasons I used the words ‘immediate aftermath’ is because I think in the immediate aftermath you’re probably processing a lot of things when the idea of that comes up.

I think what was most important about it, this is just my feeling on it, what was most important about it was that the Niners were upfront with their guys about it, right? After discussing it with Jimmy...and making it clear to Jimmy that, ‘If we do this, Trey is going to be our starter.” Then discussing it with Trey, and then going to the leadership council and informing them of what they were gonna do, they felt comfortable about moving forward with it.

So, I know everybody’s looking for some level of drama to tear this situation apart and turn it into something that it’s not right now, but I do think the Niners’ ability to communicate clearly with their players on this sort of thing is what’s going to carry them through.

Do I think it was easy news for Trey Lance to take? No, I don’t think it was easy news for Trey Lance to take. I think it’s something, if you’re him, you ask a lot of questions about. I think in the end, because the Niners did get in front of it and were pretty clear in communicating to all the guys what the plan is here, I think they’ll wind up being fine in the long run.”

Breer also clarified his comments about the situation.

It’s a little rich on Breer’s part to talk about, “everyone wanting to turn the situation into something it’s not” when he himself is part of the reason people are doing that. If he didn’t write that Lance was annoyed, it wouldn’t have become the dominant sports story of the day in San Francisco. He also wouldn’t have had to clarify things with a phone interview and a retractive tweet.

It’s almost as if he was surprised by the response. By now everyone should know that Garoppolo and Lance is the third rail of storylines for one of the biggest fanbases in the sport. If you’re going to touch it, you’ve got to be prepared for the reaction. In the end, I think the comment became more than Breer wanted it to become, but if that’s the case he should never have written it in the first place.