San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke made an appearance on SiriusXM NFL radio Wednesday morning, and he had a chance to discuss quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He clarified the kind of throwing Kaepernick is currently involved in, but otherwise did not add a whole lot to the situation.
We've got five guys on the roster right now, at that position, and we're gonna work through it. Kap's doing an awfully good job with his rehab. Like you mentioned earlier, he's out on the field now. He's not throwing with the group yet, he's still throwing in the rehabilitation phase of it, but he's back out there slinging it a little bit. So that's going well. The coaches are excited about that group of guys. They feel good about it. We're getting a lot of work in right now, and we've got a couple more months to plow through this offseason before we send these guys out for a break. So it's exciting times, and we're looking forward to that group going out there and competing.
Kaepernick is getting work in, but the injury is leaving him a little bit behind the rest of the quarterbacks in preparing for the upcoming season. I bring this up in part because Matt Maiocco had an interesting article earlier in the day. He spoke with Garrett Celek last week, and the 49ers tight end said that Gabbert was "definitely taking control" on the field. Celek was asked if Gabbert is a natural leader, and he offered up praise in that regard as well.
I would not expect a player to respond that a quarterback is not a leader, although we've seen plenty of issues across the NFL where leadership questions are raised. But beyond what Celek said, Gabbert has an important edge right now in the competition for the starting quarterback job. Both players are learning the playbook, but Gabbert has the advantage of getting to get the throws in with his receivers. That's just the inherent nature of Kaepernick having to rehab, but as we get through the offseason workout program and into training camp, it will be something to track in this competition.