Jim Harbaugh walked into the press room after the Los Angeles Chargers’ preseason finale with the same mix of bluntness and intrigue he’s carried all summer. His team had just wrapped a four-game August run that ended with a gut-wrenching 30-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Yet, the biggest question that loomed heavy on everybody’s mind was: What is to become of quarterback Trey Lance?

After a lackluster show for the Dallas Cowboys last season, where he fell short of even a single touchdown, his arrival at the Chargers was dipped in intrigue and uncertainty. The preseason, as expected, was supposed to be the place where he got to dispel those doubts. To talk about stats, Lance completed 32 of his 57 pass attempts (56.1 completion percentage) for 334 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in four games.

And though the QB didn’t get much time vs the 49ers, playing three drives before Taylor Heinicke and DJ Uiagalelei took over, it looks like he might have made a mark after all, or not. You decide after reading what head coach and quarterback whisperer Harbaugh’s post-game words tells you about Trey Lance. Landing like a carefully thrown dart, pointed, but not quite hitting the bullseye, here’s what he had to offer: “I don’t want to make any proclamations here tonight,” he told reporters, via Josh Dubow of the AP. “He’s put himself in a really good position.” That’s Harbaugh in pure form, praise wrapped in caution, a message that’s as much for the locker room as it is for the media.

However, the franchise has finalized most things.

Trey Lance almost becomes QB2 for Jim Harbaugh

Jim Harbaugh had already made the plan clear earlier in the week. Justin Herbert would sit, Trey Lance would get the first couple of series, Taylor Heinicke would follow, and undrafted rookie DJ Uiagalelei would close things out. It wasn’t just a rotation; it was a test. The backup quarterback job behind Herbert was still undecided, and the finale against the San Francisco 49ers was Lance’s shot to grab it.

“Just trying to build on it, build on what we’ve done these first three and come out with the win,” Lance said before the game. Instead, his long-awaited Bay Area return, the stadium where he once carried the weight of being the 49ers’ future, delivered three straight punts. He finished 5-of-8 for 38 yards. No turnovers, no disaster, but no spark either. A night that summed up his preseason, encouraging glimpses, steady execution, but not quite enough to seal the deal.

The Chargers went on to lose 23-30, undone late by a pick-six, and for Lance, the night ended with more questions than answers. “It was fun,” he said after. “I wish we could have got more going on offense and come out with a win. But it was fun. I tried to approach it like any other game.”

And Jim Harbaugh? He didn’t hand out depth chart titles, but his words told you plenty about how he views Lance. The HC said, “Just 25 years old. Just in life, that’s the fat part of the bat. For a quarterback that’s the fat part of the bat. I like the skill set, an electric player.” That’s not coach-speak dismissal. It’s admiration. That’s a coach hinting that this is only the beginning.

Because whatever they expected, Lance has quietly done it. Stay upright, stay composed, stay in the fight. Across three games, he showed enough to make you remember the tools that once made him a top-three pick. He didn’t clinch the job, but he made it hard to look away. Saturday night didn’t rewrite Trey Lance’s story. But it did keep the door cracked open. He’s not QB2 yet. For now, he waits. And Harbaugh watches.