Trey Lance created a social media stir last month when he reposted the announcement that the Tennessee Titans hired former San Francisco 49ers director of player personnel Ran Carthon to be the team's general manager with three crossed-finger emojis.
Lance told quarterback trainer Quincy Avery during an interview on "The Q with Quincy Avery" live stream that the post was a "mistake," and he never meant it to sound like he wanted out of San Francisco.
The QB said he only found out about the hullabaloo after 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan joked about it.
"Kyle told me the next morning because we had an install meeting. Kyle asked me, 'Have you seen everything? People say you're going to the Titans and stuff,'" Lance said Thursday, via the San Francisco Chronicle. "I go, 'What are you talking about?' And he goes, 'I just saw it. People are talking crazy. They don't know what they're talking about. I just thought it was funny.' He was the one who told me about it. I didn't see anything."
Lance did note that he got close to Carthon in his two seasons in San Francisco, adding that the emojis were meant more as a good luck signal.
"Me and Ran got close," Lance said. "He'd bring his boys in, and I'd talk to his kids. For me, that was huge. It was like a shining light. Just getting to know someone's family like that. I was super happy for him. The fingers crossed emoji wasn't like 'cross my fingers emoji, I want to be a Tennessee Titan.' I love it here. I don't want to be anywhere else. That's my No. 1 used emoji too."
Lance is rehabbing from surgery on his injured ankle suffered in Week 2. Niners rookie QB Brock Purdy is set to undergo surgery on his injured elbow later this month. Purdy's emergence late in the season caused questions about Lance's future with the organization. But as of now, the former No. 3 overall pick remains in San Francisco.
A stage is set for a training camp battle between Lance and Purdy come August, assuming both are healthy.
