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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Kyle Shanahan said the competition between Trey Lance and Sam Darnold to be the San Francisco 49ers’ No. 2 quarterback could continue during the regular season.

Shanahan said he’d likely announce the pecking order prior to the team’s Week 1 game in Pittsburgh. After all, the so-called “third quarterback” rule allows teams to dress three passers on game days but they still have to designate which are the first two.

But he also indicated the quarterback order “definitely” could change during the season and that Darnold could run the scout team one week — which is typically the purview of the No. 2 quarterback — and Lance could run it in the next.

Scout-team duty proved to be an excellent way for Brock Purdy to prepare himself for the speed of an NFL game. The 49ers defensive players last season raved about how aggressive Purdy was in practices and how he gave them opportunities to make plays on the ball. Some young quarterbacks try to be careful in those situations. Purdy didn’t, and in testing the defense he not only sharpened that unit but also figured out his own limits.

“If you don’t build those scars up, how would you know where not to throw the ball?” defensive back Jimmie Ward, now with the Houston Texans, said last year. “How would you trust yourself? How would you build your confidence if you don’t go through the right steps?”

49ers defenders didn't have to urge Brock Purdy to take more chances in practice

In that way, running the scout team would seem to be a bigger benefit for Lance than Darnold. Lance, after all, only has attempted 102 passes in the regular season and needs all the repetitions he can get. Darnold has attempted 1,765 passes.

Shanahan, however, said the defense takes precedence in that scenario. Whichever quarterback provides the best facsimile of San Francisco’s upcoming opponent will be tapped for duty that week.

“This is the NFL,” Shanahan said. “So you think about how to get your team ready to win that week and most of that has to do with who’s best for our defense, who gets them the right look and prepares our team the best way for what they’re about to face on Sunday. And after that, you try to get everyone reps because you only get better with reps.”

Shanahan, who spoke before Tuesday’s practice, said he hadn’t decided how he’ll allocate the quarterback snaps in Friday’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers. If it follows the pattern established in the first two games, Lance will enter the game ahead of Darnold. If Darnold enters first, it could hint at what Shanahan’s No. 2 quarterback announcement will be before the Pittsburgh Steelers game.

One thing that seems clear is that Purdy and the starting group will play more than the one series they had Saturday against the Denver Broncos.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers’ starting offense are likely to see more action than the one series they played last week. (Kyle Terada / USA Today)

“It looks like we’ll be getting a decent amount of snaps on Friday,” center Jake Brendel said.

Brendel also noted that the Chargers use a 3-4 defense that’s similar, at least in structure, to what the 49ers will face in Pittsburgh. The 49ers defense he faces every day in practice uses a four-man front.

“Anytime we can see a different defense, a different structure of the secondary, different linebackers on the second level — those are all reps we should be banking going into the regular season,” Brendel said.