Trey Lance teamed up with Patrick Mahomes' QB coach in hopes of improving accuracy

Practicing around the NFL’s top quarterback could help Trey Lance advance his game.

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback teamed up with Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes for some time earlier in the 2023 offseason. But Lance didn’t just work with Mahomes. He also worked with Mahomes private coach Jeff Christensen.

Lance went to work with Christensen this offseason to improve his accuracy. The third-year quarterback completed only 54.9% of his passes during his first two seasons in the league. The delivery of Lance, who 49ers coach Mike Shanahan said was affected by a finger injury in his rookie season, was the issue, which Christensen said took The Athletic a few days to figure out in his time working with him.

Once Lance’s roll was resolved, Christensen had him watch some of the throws Mahomes made during the throwing sessions. That’s what led to Lance making significant improvements to his throws during their time together this offseason, Christensen told The Athletic.

“I said, ‘Look at this. Look what he’s doing here,’” Christensen said. “It was something I told him to do, but he didn’t quite do it. And then he saw Patrick execute it perfectly. And I think that visual buy-in, that mental buy-in helped him get over that mental bump. “

“And to his credit he kept getting better,” Christensen added. “(For) the past seven days, every day has been a substantial jump.”

The other problem Christensen solved was the arm pain that Lance typically experienced after throwing. Lance’s arm hurt after three days with Christensen, but after their last session together, with Lance throwing 150 passes, Christensen said Lance felt no pain.

Christensen said Lance “continued to apply and keep believing” in what he was taught, which led to good results in the workouts he had with Mahomes.

“He fit in really well,” Christensen said. “Pat really thinks the world of him. He’s just a really good person, conscientious. He wants to be great. And he’s one of the few kids whose actions match his words. He supports it. He shows up every day and he wants to learn. And that’s why I teach him.”

Lance will certainly hope that his new and improved pitching mechanics will pay off when the 49ers get into OTAs next week. He could definitely use it too since it looks like Lance is working from behind. The 49ers have indicated that Brock Purdy is the team’s starting quarterback after he helped the 49ers reach the NFC Championship Game as Lance missed most of the year with a broken ankle.

But Lance could get a chance to start at quarterback this season. Purdy is still recovering from a UCL tear in his right elbow and is not expected to start pitching until June at the earliest.