San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly met with the media today. Of course, one of the hot topics of discussion was the quarterback position. Many felt that Thursday night's contest was a do-or-die game for Blaine Gabbert, who has played poorly for much of the season.
"We haven't talked anything about who's starting at any position," Kelly told the media. He went on to say that the coaching staff is still reviewing game film. Kelly will typically grade the game himself while watching the film. Then they will sit together as a staff and look at what the did well and didn't do well on each play. By the time of the press conference, Kelly had already met with his offensive coaching staff but had not yet met with the defensive staff.
Kelly was asked where Colin Kaepernick was as far as his weight goes. "I couldn't tell you exactly his weight today," Kelly answered. "I think he's in the 215 range."
"He's continuing to work, continuing to get stronger, continuing to get better," Kelly continued. Kelly reminded everyone that Kaepernick is still in the process of getting back to where he was prior to his three offseason surgeries. "I'm just saying, there's not a weight limit on what he has to be to play. It's just what he is right now – he's not the 2013 version of himself where he took a team to the Super Bowl – from a physical standpoint.
Kelly reaffirmed that general manager Trent Baalke is in charge of assembling the roster, but it is the coaching staff that decides on who starts, plays, and doesn't play. Baalke has no influence on that.
"I played him in the first game," Kelly said while answering a question about any possible reluctance to play Kaepernick because of the injury clause in his contract. "So, that kind of answers that question."
Earlier today, CSN Bay Area reported that there is some support in the 49ers locker room for Christian Ponder to possibly play. Kelly was asked if Ponder has ever entered the quarterback discussion. "Well, we haven't had a discussion," said Kelly. "So no one's in the discussion right now." Will Ponder be in the discussion when the coaching staff finally has it? "We'll see when we have the discussion," Kelly answered.
According to Kelly, Ponder is not getting any reps outside of the scout team during practices. Gabbert continues to get about 75-percent of the reps with Kaepernick getting the remainder. Throwing Ponder into the equation would take reps away from the other two.
Regarding the perceived wavering support for Gabbert following the loss to Arizona, Kelly warned the media not to read into anything. "I said out entire offense didn't play well," Kelly said. "It's got nothing to do with unwavering support for anybody or anything."
Kelly continued by saying that he doesn't know who is going to start against the Buffalo Bills when they play on October 16 – at any position. He stated that the entire offense played poorly. "Don't rule anything out," Kelly said. "Everybody's on notice," he answered when he was asked if even OT Joe Staley, one of the team's best and most consistent offensive players, was on notice.
