Colin Kaepernick has not yet been cleared to practice after having surgeries on his shoulder, knee and thumb, but San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly insists the quarterback is making up for it with his work off the field.
On Tuesday, Kelly told reporters that Kaepernick is not falling behind in the quarterback competition.
“He’s great in the classroom,” Kelly said, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “He’s got a great grasp of what we’re doing. I’m really impressed by both Blaine (Gabbert) and him and their intelligence and being able to pick up what we’re trying to do.
“So there’s no ‘fall behind’ because there’s no behind. There’s not a race. The first day we’re able to against defenses is today. We’re not naming the starting lineup for the Rams game today.”
It doesn’t matter if you call it a race or a competition. The bottom line is Kaepernick will need to be extremely impressive in training camp this summer to earn the starting job, as there have been rumblings that the 49ers are leaning toward Blaine Gabbert.
When the 49ers first hired Kelly, a report indicated that Kelly wanted to coach Kaepernick and was going to try and trade for the 29-year-old even if Chip didn’t end up in San Francisco. More recently, speculation has been building about Kelly wanting to resurrect Gabbert’s NFL career.
“I’ve been involved in every level of quarterback battles,” Kelly said. “Just like battles at every other position, it’s going to be won on the field. It can’t be won because we have a timetable that has to be set by May 17 or May 18.”
The 49ers didn’t really hide the fact that they tried to trade Kaepernick earlier this offseason. If that’s a reflection of how they value him, Gabbert clearly has the upper hand.
