The Dallas Cowboys will face the Los Angeles Rams in one of the final NFL preseason games of Week 1. With no Dak Prescott for Dallas, former top-five pick Trey Lance will get a chance to take advantage of the added reps. With limited opportunities, Lance knows just how important his performance will be.
Trey Lance Admits Importance of Preseason Performances
Entering the preseason as the Cowboys’ third-string quarterback, Lance will likely receive a majority of Dallas’ reps during each game in a battle with Cooper Rush for the backup role behind Prescott. Taken No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, Lance’s career hasn’t gone how he’d planned.
“It’s just playing ball,” said Lance after Friday’s practice. “Not really thinking too much about it. I’ve had a lot of reps with these guys, so I’m excited to go out and run the offense well.”
Lance isn’t playing for a starting job; he’s playing for a roster spot. If he doesn’t win the backup job this offseason, there is the possibility that he will be cut.
“I’m going into this game the same as I’ve gone into every other game my whole entire life — college, high school,” said Lance. “I don’t think that I’ll put too much extra in it. I’m not gonna play any harder than I have in the past, or not harder.
“Big game for me. Big game for us, so I’m excited to go out there and play well,” he said.
After being taken so high by the 49ers, it was presumed that Lance would be the future of San Francisco’s franchise. However, as a rookie, he spent most of the season as a backup to Jimmy Garoppolo. Entering his sophomore season as the team’s starter, Lance unfortunately suffered a season-ending injury after just two games.
Returning in 2023, Lance’s status as a starter was uncertain due to his limited play and the level of play the 49ers got out of second-year QB Brock Purdy the previous season. Following poor play in training camp, Lance ended up being San Francisco’s third-string quarterback behind Sam Darnold. He was later traded to the Cowboys in return for a fourth-round pick.
Lance finished his 49ers career playing in eight games (four starts), in which he threw for a 54.9% completion percentage, 797 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions. His record as a starter is 2-2.
This year is Lance’s first NFL offseason with Dallas, allowing him to learn from Prescott.
“That’s a good thing,” said Lance with a smile when asked about sitting behind Prescott this offseason. “When you’re a backup — I’m trying to be as close as I can to him. It was just coming in and repping it, and sitting in my hotel room when I got here. Just saying out loud, saying it out loud. You can think about it all day, but until you’re out there doing it live [it doesn’t matter].
“If I’m thinking about the cadence, then I’ve got ‘nother set of problems going on,” said Lance.
“I think everything works out how it’s supposed to … That’s the truth. I believe I’m where I’m supposed to be. I live in the present, one day at a time, taking it one meeting and one marker at a time, and controlling what I can control.”