No Huddle: 49ers-Cardinals Preview With Steph Sanchez →
placeholder image

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports


Chip Kelly says neither weight nor contract a factor in Kaepernick’s playing time

Oct 10, 2016 at 12:08 PM--


Videos are auto-populated by an affiliate. This site has no control over the videos that appear above.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly was on Murph & Mac on KNBR 680 this morning and discussed the topic consuming the majority of the talk among the media since Thursday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals – the status of the quarterback position.

Kelly discussed some of the factors that contributed to the team's latest loss. As he said last week, Kelly indicated that turnovers and tackling contributed greatly to the team's fourth straight defeat.

Regarding which quarterback – Blaine Gabbert or Colin Kaepernick – will start on Sunday on the road against the Buffalo Bills, Kelly said that he and his coaching staff were meeting today to discuss the topic. "We'll get together as a staff today and look at our game plan in terms of moving forward and what we're going to do everywhere," Kelly said. "As I said the day after the game in our press conference, we've got to evaluate everything and part of it is looking at what kind of game plan we're going to put together for the Bills and meet with our training staff. Find out who's available and go from there."

Kelly was asked if it was fair to say that he was leaving the door open for a change at quarterback. "No. It's fair to say that we're looking at every option we have to be a good football team. I don't think it's different from any other position. Obviously, that position gets the most notoriety but we have to look at everything right now."

Kelly touched on Kaepernick's new contract, which is reportedly in the works, and if the injury clause in the current contract has been a factor in the quarterback playing or not. "I don't get that part because he played in our first game," Kelly answered. "So, I've never been told not to play him or he shouldn't play. If I was told not to play him, then why did he play in the first game against the Rams if I was concerned about his contract or him getting hurt?"

"It's never been an issue," Kelly continued. "I've never been told by anybody in this building who to play at any position so anybody that was on our 53-man roster or who's been active for the 46-man roster is available to us on game day. And Colin played in the first game versus the Rams so I don't know where – people can speculate and say whatever they want. But if that was the case, why did he play in game one?"

Kelly reaffirmed that he has never been given hints, smoke signals, or morse code telling him who to play or not to play.

Regarding Kaepernick's weight, Kelly said that is not a factor either. "There's no weight limit that he has to get to whether he plays or doesn't play," Kelly said. "But the point was is where is he in his rehabilitation? And I answered that question and then people ran with it and said, 'Well, if he doesn't weight 225, he's not going to play.' This isn't pop warner. There is no weight limit in terms of him playing. The point I'm trying to make is I think Colin has worked extremely hard at the rehab part of what he's done. What people lose sight of is that Kaepernick missed all of last season from when he got hurt and through the rehab part because he had shoulder surgery, thumb surgery, and knee surgery that prevented him from working out the way he normally works out.

"Since he has been cleared to go when we got back here in August, he's worked his tail off. I mean, he's as hard a working guy as we have on our team in terms of everything and what he's put into this thing. So there is no 'If he gets to a certain weight, he plays.' It's just pointing out where is he – when I'm asked a question – where he is in his rehab, he's not back to where he was when he was leading this team to the Super Bowl. That's my only point."

You can listen to the entire interview on the Murph & Mac podcast.



LISTEN

Facebook Comments



More San Francisco 49ers News


placeholder image

George Kittle playing unselfish brand of football for the 49ers

By Site Staff
Sep 19

This article was first published by Audacy and was syndicated with permission. 49ers tight end George Kittle worked up a quick rapport with quarterback Brock Purdy last season, as the duo connected on seven touchdowns in the final four games of the regular season. In two games so far this year, Kittle (six catches, 49 yards) has taken a backseat in the passing game to players like Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. Still, he's impressed Al Sacco and Brian Renick of the 49ers Webzone "No Huddle" podcast from Audacy Sports with his series of pulverizing


placeholder image

49ers agree to multi-year contract extensions with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch

By David Bonilla
Sep 22

The San Francisco 49ers plan to keep the band together for a long time. The team announced that it has agreed to multi-year contract extensions with head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. Details of the contracts are currently unknown. Before the new deals, Shanahan had been signed through the 2025 season, while Lynch was locked up through the 2024 season. They will now remain with the team longer than that. The 49ers Communications staff provided the following rundown. The duo joined the 49ers in February of 2017 and have since led the organization to the postseason three times, claimed two NFC West division titles (2019 & 2022), reached three NFC Championship games (2019 & 2021-22) and a trip to Super Bowl


placeholder image

Kyle Shanahan reveals 49ers contract extensions were finalized before the season

By David Bonilla
Sep 27

Last week, the San Francisco 49ers announced they had signed head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch to multi-year contract extensions, keeping the team's brain trust together for the foreseeable future. However, Shanahan revealed that the deals had been finalized for a while. "We did it before the Pittsburgh game (Week 1), so I had already celebrated with my family and stuff like that, which is huge," Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. "I feel very grateful just being a coach anywhere for a long time. I know what that means, and I'm extremely grateful for that, to have that opportunity, and mainly for my family to be somewhere for so long, which is cool." The extensions had nothing to do with the 49ers' 3-0 start to the 2023 season. That's


placeholder image

John Lynch: Brandon Aiyuk's status for 49ers-Giants remains "very fluid," could be game-time decision

By David Bonilla
Sep 20

This week's focus remains on San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. The team has a short week to prepare for its next opponent—the New York Giants on Thursday night at Levi's Stadium. The matchup comes just four days after the Niners' 30-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Aiyuk suffered a shoulder injury on his first catch, a 13-yard reception during San Francisco's opening drive. He was in and out of the lineup throughout the game and was limited during the 49ers' light Tuesday practice. On Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said that the decision will come down to how Aiyuk feels and the evaluation from the training staff. It sounds like the receiver may end up being a


Featured

Trending News

Share 49ersWebzone