Earlier today 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh chatted with the media about his plans for Saturday's game against the Houston Texans. We should have the transcript later today, but for now I wanted to focus in on something the beat writers tweeted out, and have since written about (links at the bottom).
According to Coach Harbaugh, the 49ers will likely go with their first team offense into the third quarter, but they will give their second team players some time against the Texans first string. If preseason history holds to form, the Texans will also be rolling out their starters into the third quarter. It's hard to tell from these posts exactly when the backups will get in or for how much time.
I'll look for more details in the transcript, but for now, I've got to think Alex Smith gets at least two or three series before Kaepernick comes in for a series or two. This would then be followed by Smith getting back out there. I'd also imagine we'll see a lot of the backup running backs against the Texans first team defense. Frank Gore will likely get a decent amount of snaps, but given the security he has as the number one back, I think we see Anthony Dixon and Kendall Hunter both getting a lot of time against the first team defense.
Given that this might normally qualify as a "dress rehearsal", how do you view this decision to mix in the backups all the more?