The San Francisco 49ers have benched quarterback Colin Kaepernick, inserting Blaine Gabbert this week to face the Atlanta Falcons. Kyle McLorg had the news first, and he had an intriguing follow-up on it. Shortly after his first report, he tweeted this out regarding the timing of the benching:
Source: 49ers were going to do this last week, but decided to wait so that Gabbert could debut against a weak Falcons defense at home.
— Kyle McLorg (@Kyle_McLorgBASG) November 3, 2015
There was a lot of speculation and reports Monday evening regarding the timing of the benching. Some suggested the team was considering it depending on how Kaepernick did against the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens. Once he found some success, it bought him more time. His struggles the last two weeks stopped any momentum he had, and the change happened.
It is not surprising the Falcons might view Kyle's report as bulletin board material. In fact, the team's social media account said as much Tuesday morning.
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 3, 2015
Only the 49ers would insert Blaine Gabbert in the starting lineup and it would be viewed as bulletin board material. Of course, I don't know that extra motivation will really make much of a difference in this one. But, whatever helps the Falcons get up for this game, right?