The San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, and the Denver Broncos remain as the only three teams that have not yet named their starting quarterback for their first exhibition game. The
49ers and Houston Texans will be the last teams to play during the NFL's opening week of preseason. The pair face off at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, August 14 at 4 PM.
On Tuesday, prior to
the team's eighth practice of training camp, 49ers offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins was asked when a decision on a starter for Sunday would be made. "I'm not sure yet," answered Modkins. "We've got, what, five days before we play? So, we haven't got that far yet, but towards the end of it I'm sure we'll figure out how we're going to do that."
Preseason will be big for the starting positions currently up in the air.
Blaine Gabbert and
Colin Kaepernick are the two involved in the battle for the starting quarterback job in San Francisco.
"Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick improved their practice-field accuracy Tuesday, albeit with mostly short throws to receivers running mostly horizontal routes," said Cam Inman of
Bay Area News Group. According to his unofficial statistics, Gabbert was 10 of 12 passing during 11-on-11 drills while Kaepernick was 8 of 11.
"I'll tell you what, both guys are doing a good job," Modkins said on Tuesday. "They are both competing their tails off. In the classroom, on the field, they are both doing a good job. I wouldn't say any one is ahead of the other right now. I think as we get into the preseason and we get to playing live games, those things will start happening, but right now I wouldn't say anyone is ahead of anybody. I just think they are both progressing like we want them to and both have been really good."
While the entire coaching staff will share their input, if one quarterback does not separate himself from the other during preseason, the decision on who will start Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams will fall solely on head coach Chip Kelly. "I think Chip allows everybody to have some input and he'll make the ultimate call on who that is, but Chip's always had all of us involved in it," said Modkins.
Not only has the team not decided on a starter for Sunday, but it hasn't decided how preseason reps would be divvied up. Would one quarterback start Week 1 and then the other start Week 2? Will the coaching staff try to give each about the same number of snaps?
"We haven't really talked about it yet," said Modkins. "We haven't decided yet on how we're going to do it. We'll figure that out as we get closer to the first game. Right now, we're in training camp mode. We're in instillation mode. We're in teaching the offense mode. We'll kind of figure out the game plan as far as reps and all that in a few days."
How much preparation is the 49ers coaching staff doing for this weekend's game? "Not a lot," said Modkins. "We just kind of do what we do and go from there."
"We're not looking to out-scheme Houston by any means," continued Modkins. "We're looking to see who can block and who can be in the right places and who steps the right way, whose fundamentals are the right way and whose pad levels are down, can we throw and catch simple routes. There's not any game planning going on for the first game."
Sunday's exhibition game against the Texans remains the team's most affordable home game of the season. Tickets are currently
selling on the aftermarket for as little as $8 each. The team's most expensive home game is a
Week 4 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys with those tickets starting at $210.
Taylor Swift, the Kansas City Chiefs, and a Super Bowl overtime matchup. If the NFL is scripted, the league came up with a good one this past season—unless you're a San Francisco 49ers fan.
During his inaugural youth football camp at Levi's Stadium this past weekend, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy faced a candid inquiry from one young participant: Is the NFL scripted?
"No, the NFL is not scripted," a smiling Purdy responded. However, the quarterback added, "Good
With the 2024 NFL Draft less than a week away, it's common for the rumor mill to start churning, especially with players who are actively seeking a new contract. It was just two short years ago that WR Deebo Samuel requested a trade from the San Francisco 49ers prior to draft day, only for cooler heads to prevail and eventually agree to a new deal.
Now, it's WR Brandon Aiyuk's turn to try and get paid and rumors surfaced over the weekend that he too would request to be dealt. While that report was quickly shot down by his agent, there's still a lot of discussion about Aiyuk's future and if other teams will come calling on draft night.
Legendary columnist Mike Silver joined
We're just over 24 hours before round one of the NFL Draft begins. The San Francisco 49ers are scheduled to have their first pick in the opening round since 2021 when they drafted Trey Lance. That didn't turn out well, but there is optimism that the team will be able to make its roster better over the next few days.
GM John Lynch spoke on Monday and said there's a possibility the team could trade out of the first round. I doubt that would go over well with the fanbase, especially since they haven't had a first-rounder in the past two years. But if it's a good trade that lands the 49ers some quality picks, we could see that happen, especially if there aren't any players at pick 31 that the team is excited about.
We opened up the 49ers Webzone Mailbag to see what
When asked about the possibility of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk not being on the San Francisco 49ers roster on Friday morning, general manager John Lynch responded, "I wouldn't anticipate that."
Lynch assured reporters that signing Aiyuk to a long-term extension is a priority, stating, "And our wish is that he's here and a part of the Niners for the rest of his career. We're working through that."
While Lynch didn't elaborate on the conversations occurring behind closed doors, Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that a potential trade remains a
