SANTA CLARA — On Thursday, the 49ers told us Colin Kaepernick missing practice was a scheduled day of rest.
Three days later, his injury situation has turned a bit more troubling.
The 49ers are holding out Kaepernick against the Texans with arm fatigue in his throwing shoulder. Kaepernick missed Friday’s joint scrimmage against Houston and now he’ll miss a turn on the playing field in the quarterback competition. The 28-year-old has been complaining of tightness in his arm, but did downplay the injury on Friday.
“Once again, taking it day-by-day, icing, making sure I’m doing everything I can so it’s ready to roll,” Kaepernick said.
Chip Kelly has long told the media that preseason games will be the single biggest factor in how he will make the starting quarterback decision. No doubt, this is a huge blow to Kaepernick’s chances of starting Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football.
We wrote on Friday that this injury really didn’t exactly come out of nowhere and that the 49ers are partially at fault. Kelly said each quarterback is throwing between 86 and 102 passes per day in training camp, a workload Kaepernick admitted is much larger than his recovering body is used to. Kaepernick underwent surgeries on his shoulder, thumb and knee in the offseason.
Blaine Gabbert has a clear shot at winning the quarterback competition Sunday against the Texans. Friday’s joint practice with Houston was one of his best practices of training camp and he told reporters he was able to build a rhythm without having to split repetitions with Kaepernick.
It will be hard for Kelly to drag this battle out if Gabbert is efficient, but Kaepernick has been told by Kelly this will still be a true quarterback competition.
“From everything he’s told me,” Kaepernick said, “we’re both getting a fair shot.”
WR DeAndre Smelter, S L.J. McCray, S Eric Reid, DL Glenn Dorsey, and DL Arik Armstead will also miss the preseason opener at Levi’s Stadium. Thad Lewis and Jeff Driskel will backup Gabbert.