The San Francisco 49ers are getting back to practice on Thursday against the Denver Broncos, and Chip Kelly announced that Colin Kaepernick will not play on Saturday. Kelly told the media before practice that Kaepernick will do more throwing on Thursday with wide receivers, but will not take part in team drills and seven-on-seven work. The goal is to get him ready for next week’s game against the Green Bay Packers.
Kaepernick has not thrown in team drills since last Wednesday leading up to the Texans game. There have been all sorts of reports trying to explain his arm status. Adam Schefter said he was hearing it was a dead arm, but Trent Baalke said on Wednesday it’s more of a fatigue issue, and Chip Kelly said on Thursday it’s an upper arm muscle issue.
And so, we continue to wait. Blaine Gabbert, Jeff Driskel, and Christian Ponder will split snaps on Saturday. I’m guessing Ponder will be the second quarterback on the field, but Driskel has more time in the offense, so maybe he is the backup on Saturday. Whatever the case, we’ll have to wait until next week to see if Kaepernick is back at practice.