49ers vs. Chargers: 3 things Trey Lance must do in preseason bout

No. 3: Trey Lance must engineer an elongated 49ers touchdown drive

Perhaps it’ll be a creation of the national media, much of which was convinced San Francisco was going to draft now-New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones.

But there should be a little bit of a rivalry between the two anyway, particularly in light of Jones’ solid performance earlier this week, albeit against an inept Philadelphia Eagles defense.

One of Jones’ drives culminating in a touchdown lasted 17 plays, gained 91 yards, chewed up 9:04 of the game clock and saw the former Alabama quarterback go 4-of-6 while completing both short and long passes in the process.

Trey Lance is likely to get a good chunk of field time against Los Angeles, especially if Kyle Shanahan already understands what he has in the presumed starter, Jimmy Garoppolo.

But to take the next step in whatever rivalry Lance should have with Jones, the former will be asked to do something of a similar caliber against a vastly superior defense and with a defensive head-coaching guru in the Chargers’ Brandon Staley.

Unless 49ers fans want to continue hearing stuff like this:

Lance already has one preseason touchdown drive, of course, and it was a single play.

Now, the next step in his maturation will need to showcase his ability to methodically move the ball at will, chewing up the clock and displaying his ability to orchestrate the offense.