San Francisco 49ers’ Trey Lance Has Second Surgery On Injured Ankle

The San Francisco 49ers are expected to have Trey Lance back for the start of OTA’s ahead of next season, despite a complication in his recovery from the season-ending ankle injury he suffered in Week 2.

San Francisco announced on Saturday that Lance had undergone a successful second surgery on his right ankle.

A statement from the team read: “The second procedure was performed to remove hardware that was inserted during the initial surgery in September.

“Due to the location of the fracture, the required hardware placement was close to a tendon in Lance’s ankle. During the rehab process, their close proximity proved to cause irritation in his ankle. After consulting with multiple experts, the decision was made to have the hardware removed to prevent future issues in the ankle.

“Lance will continue his rehab process and is expected to make a full recovery and return for OTA’s.”

Though the additional surgery does not change Lance’s timeline, it remains unclear what the quarterback situation will be for the 49ers when he returns.

Jimmy Garoppolo’s 49er career would appear to be over following the Week 13 foot injury that looks to have ended a promising 2022 season but, with Brock Purdy coming in as a seventh-round rookie and winning his first three starts, Lance may at least have a competition on his hands next offseason.

Depending on how far the 11-4 Niners go in the playoffs with Purdy under center, there is the distinct possibility Lance could find himself heading into his third offseason with the 49ers as the backup to a man who was the last pick in the draft in 2022.

That is a potentially awkward situation for Lance, but assuming his recovery goes to plan between now and OTA’s, it is an advantageous one for the Niners to have a pair of healthy quarterbacks in whom they believe on rookie team-friendly contracts that will allow San Francisco to dedicate resources to further stacking other areas of an already excellent roster.

Having a pair of surgeries may not be what Lance envisaged when he prepared to be the starter in the 2022 campaign, and his path back to that role is complicated by the emergence of a quarterback in Purdy who will have much more games on what is already a more impressive resume by the time San Francisco’s season draws to a close.

But Lance must be fully healthy to have a hope of being the starter in 2023, and the short-term frustration of the surgery may therefore be worth the long-term results for the man the Niners picked to be their quarterback of the future back in 2021.