The San Francisco 49ers have begun rolling in their reserves, and the day is over for quarterback Blaine Gabbert. The 49ers had their starting offense on the field for three series, although one was the early Carlos Hyde fumble, so we’ll say it was 2+ series.
Gabbert’s day finished with a couple strong plays, and then a lot of meh to bad stuff. Numbers-wise, Gabbert finished 4-of-10 for 63 yards, and ran three times for 18 yards. The two highlights for Gabbert were a 13-yard scramble to avoid a blitzer, and then a 43-yard touchdown pass to Vance McDonald. A Texans defender fell down in coverage on McDonald, but it was a solid throw and of course, a McDonald catch is a plus given some of his struggles.
The offense struggled out of the gates, and Gabbert in particular struggled with his accuracy for stretches. He connected with McDonald, but he’s going to need to improve on that if he wants to claim the starting job. He would seem to have the edge right now, but if he plays like this again next week, I’m not entirely sure that will be enough. Of course, we haven’t seen Colin Kaepernick on the field yet, so that will factor in as well. But for now, Gabbert has a couple good things, a few bad things, and will need to work from there.