San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly met with the media today and confirmed that QB Colin Kaepernick is on schedule to play on Friday against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium. If he does play, it will be Kaepernick's first time against an opposing defense in a game since November 1, 2015.
Kaepernick returned to full practice this week for the first time since August 10. He had been suffering from a muscle issue in his throwing arm, which had limited him. He has not been limited in practices this week, getting the full number of throws available. Blaine Gabbert and Kaepernick have been splitting first-team reps in practice this week.
Kelly said that there has been no decision on a quarterback rotation for Friday, so it is unknown if Kaepernick will start the game or if Gabbert, who has started the past two preseason games, will get the call with the first-team again.
"We haven't discussed it yet," Kelly said. "We got two days of training to go through. We'll see. (Kaepernick's) on track. We're excited and we're hopeful he will be ready to go, but I'm not going to put the cart before the horse. We have a system. When we get to Friday, we'll know exactly from (trainer Jeff Ferguson) who's up and who's down. If he's up, he's going to play."
Kaepernick has reportedly looked good in practice this week and been able to fully participate in team drills. On Saturday, he also had about a 30-minute throwing session prior to the 49ers' preseason match-up against the Denver Broncos where he threw about 50 passes of varying distance.
Kelly had said that they would been easing him back into practice this week with the full intention of getting him ready to play against the Packers. The coaching staff has repeatedly stated that preseason will be huge for evaluating the quarterbacks and determining a starter.
DeForest Buckner
DE DeForest Buckner has been able to fully participate in practices this week after missing Saturday's game against the Broncos. He has been dealing with a soft tissue injury in his arm.