By Josué Karim. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
After more than 10 months of waiting, the San Francisco 49ers will play again at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time against the Kansas City Chiefs as part of the National Football League (NFL) preseason.
It was November 5, 2020 when the 49ers played their last game at Levi's Stadium. Their last three home games were played in Arizona, due to the COVID-19 health order imposed by Santa Clara County banning contact sports.
For this first preseason game, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the first-team offense are expected to play at least one series against Kansas City, while third overall draft pick and team prospect Trey Lance could also make his league debut.
In a meeting with media, coach Kyle Shanahan said he will ?try to get most of the starters going. Hopefully Jimmy will do just one series, and then we'll put Trey in hopefully he'll play the whole first half."
"Hopefully Lance will get around 30 ?plays, but you never know how a game will go. If he doesn't get enough, then he'd probably start in the first series of the third quarter, too," he said.
With Kansas City's starters expected to play the entire first quarter, Shanahan could analyze Lance's progress on his first few plays at the helm of the offensive line.
"I'm excited to see him play like everyone else," Shanahan said. "It's fun to watch the quarterbacks come out for the first time," he noted.
It should be noted that at the stadium, people will not be required to be vaccinated or show a negative COVID-19 test, but will be asked to wear mouth covers while in the indoor areas of the stadium, according to the team.
After Saturday's game, the 49ers San Francisco will play two more preseason games, one in Los Angeles on August 22 against the Chargers and another at home to host the Las Vegas Raiders on August 29.
The regular season will begin with two away games, while the first regular season game at Levi's Stadium will be on September 26 against the Green Bay Packers.
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