49ers' Chip Kelly: Colin Kaepernick, Blaine Gabbert to split reps 'right down the middle'
Just a few months ago, it seemed Colin Kaepernick would be getting a clean slate as Peyton Manning's presumptive replacement for the Denver Broncos.
Turns out Kaepernick may still get a fresh start — but with the only NFL team he's ever known.
New San Francisco 49ers coach Chip Kelly announced Sunday that Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert will each receive an equal opportunity in training camp to emerge as the starting quarterback in 2016.
“Him and Blaine will split it right down the middle with the ones and the twos," said Kelly, who has no timetable to declare a winner and is looking forward to seeing a fully healthy Kaepernick operate his frenetic offense for the first time.
The Niners nearly traded Kaepernick to Denver before the draft on the heels of a disappointing, injury-plagued season. But the Broncos wound up selecting Paxton Lynch in the first round, effectively killing the deal. Multiple offseason surgeries rendered Kaepernick an observer after Kelly's arrival, so Gabbert, who took over as starter midway through last season and largely outplayed Kaepernick, took the first-team snaps and seemed to be the frontrunner entering camp.
But Kaepernick earned Kelly's praise for quickly grasping the new playbook mentally. Saying many of the concepts overlapped from the system he ran in college at Nevada, he's now ready to "sink my teeth into" the offense and apply his physical gifts to the scheme.
"Feel good, feel ready to compete, excited for what’s to come," said Kaepernick, who was also upbeat after successfully packing weight back onto his frame after procedures to his shoulder, knee and thumb had prevented him from working out.
"I don’t look like my high school self anymore," he quipped. "I feel like I look more like an adult now.”
Neither player distinguished himself for a 5-11 team in 2015. But Gabbert, who flamed out after being a first-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011, showed better poise, efficiency and — important to Kelly — accuracy after taking the reins from Kaepernick.
“It’s a game about getting the ball in playmaker’s hands," said Kelly. "So, repetitive accuracy is a big thing in terms of being able to move the ball down the field. That’s a huge part of it.”
Of course Kelly's history suggests both passers will see the field. In three years with the Philadelphia Eagles, Kelly's starting quarterbacks never survived a full season in a scheme that often exposes them to big hits.
"It’s good to have two," Kelly said. "We’ve had to play two quarterbacks every year. So, it’s a good situation to be in.”
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