Sunday morning, prior to the San Francisco 49ers Week 5 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, ESPN’s Jim Trotter reported that Carlos Hyde and NaVorro Bowman both told him there had not been even a whisper of talk about a quarterback change. I was not surprised to see some wagon-circling.
A day later, we have our first anonymous suggestions the team wants to see a change. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, a friend of the site and someone with some 49ers-specific connections, reported that multiple sources have told him teammates want to see Colin Kaepernick in the starting lineup.
I was a little skeptical about Trotter’s report on Sunday. He had on the record comments, which is something we rarely get these days. But it is also hard to expect a complete accounting of things. I mean, it’s not like Hyde or Bowman was going to go on record saying a change is needed. Players have shot off like that in the past, but right now, something like that would have surprised me.
But now, we have some rumblings. Chip Kelly offered praise for Blaine Gabbert, saying he played well except for the interception. Gabbert made some great throws on Sunday, but the interception in a critical moment encapsulated some of the issues. His inconsistency is not changing, and it should surprise nobody that it might be causing frustration on the team.
The 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday. They then have ten days to prepare for the Buffalo Bills in Week 6. They play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a week later, and then have a bye in Week 8. If a QB change is going to happen, either post Cardinals or during the bye makes the most sense. The team could do it later in the year, but it would be less and less useful as the season moves on. For now, we wait at least another week, and then see where it all takes us.