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During the early part of NFL Network's Week 7 pre-game show, Mike Silver confirmed facts that we pretty much already knew regarding Michael Crabtree's recovery from an Achilles injury. Silver reported that 49ers sources told him the team is looking at mid-to-late November as a realistic target for Crabtree's return. This has been reported before, but the more sources from which we hear this, the better we can look at it, in my mind.
This also comes amidst word of more Crabtree rehab work. According to the assembled media, Crabtree spent time this past week working on lateral movement and agility drills.
The most interesting comment from Silver's report was in regard to Colin Kaepernick and scrambling. He heard from a team source that the 49ers were have been "settling into the new normal, and we don't really feel as comfortable with [Kap] running without Alex Smith as his backup."
We've had some discussion on this before. It is not a surprising comment, particularly given how the team has repeatedly flipped third quarterbacks. The team is obviously not too psyched about the thought of Colt McCoy entering a game. This only adds to that.
Obviously plenty of us would like to see B.J. Daniels still on the roster, but he's gone. The question now is how the team addresses the backup QB position after this season. Given the number of draft picks available, how early does the team consider drafting a quarterback in 2014? They won't use a high pick, but maybe an early Day 3 pick?