49ers INJURY REPORT;Brandon Allen Exacerbates his ankle lnjury againt the

There have indeed been many “weird situations” with the 49ers’ quarterback position in recent years, from decisions made and not made to injuries suffered to trades not accomplished to a recent trade that happened with grease-through-a-goose alacrity.

Another unresolved “weird situation” relates to the suspicion in some circles that Trey Lance, the player in whom the 49ers invested three first-round picks and a third-round pick, had fallen not to third string before being dealt to the Cowboys but to fourth, behind Brandon Allen.

The fact that the 49ers kept Allen on the 53-man roster bolsters the notion that Lance was QB4, behind the former Bengals backup. On Wednesday, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the decision to keep Allen on the 53-man roster, with the implication being that Allen might have been claimed on waivers.

“We had pretty good knowledge that we think he would’ve got claimed,” Shanahan said. “If there was a third quarterback out there you could put on your practice squad you felt as good with, then it wouldn’t be an issue. But when he’s going to get claimed and how he feel about him, it was important to keep him.”

The “weird situation” about that response comes from the fact that Allen would not have been subject to waivers, and thus couldn’t have been “claimed.” He’s a vested veteran. He has six years of accrued service. The 49ers could have released him from the 53-man roster and re-signed him to the practice squad without exposing him to waivers.