San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly insists he was not taking a shot at general manager Trent Baalke earlier this week when discussing making a change at quarterback.
After he announced on Tuesday that Colin Kaepernick will start against the Buffalo Bills, Kelly said he is trying anything he can to spark the offense.
“It’s really one of the only maneuvers we can make based on our depth,” he said.
Many people felt that was Kelly’s way of saying the 49ers do not have enough talent at the quarterback position, which could be seen as a swipe at the GM. When asked about that interpretation of his comment, Kelly laughed.
“You guys are digging deep there, huh?” he said Thursday, via Eric Branch of SFGate.com. If you look at every position we have on offense, we rotate. So all three running backs play. If five receivers are up, they play. All three of the tight ends play. We’re rotating our offensive line. The only position we don’t rotate on the offensive side of the ball is the quarterback….
“The only position that has not been rotated on the offensive side of the ball was the quarterback spot. So that’s why I said, ‘What are you going to do?’ The only position we hadn’t made a move at was quarterback. So that’s all I meant by that.”
I have a hard time believing Kelly was throwing a jab at Baalke. Even if he’s not in charge of personnel in San Francisco like he was in Philadelphia, Kelly knew the quarterback situation when he took the job. There have been reports that Kelly is already dealing with internal pressure, but blaming a lack of QB depth would not be a good look after five games with a new team.
