Colin Kaerpernick Dealing With “Dead Arm”

49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was held out of Sunday’s preseason game against the Texans as he deals with a “dead arm,” reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). San Francisco hopes that Kaepernick will be healthy enough to participate in Saturday’s contest against the Broncos, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes.Colin Kaepernick

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“Colin isn’t 100 percent and it wouldn’t have been fair to put him in and judge him in a competition,” head coach Chip Kelly said Sunday night. “…It’s nothing that’s a long-term thing. It’s just a day-to-day thing. He said he feels better as we go, but we’re not going to push him so we can have a proper evaluation.”

Kaepernick, of course, is locked in a battle with Blaine Gabbert for the 49ers’ starting quarterback job, though how open the competition is remains a question. In fact, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweeted last night that Gabbert has been the “landslide favorite” for weeks. However, Gabbert wasn’t overly effective in limited action against Houston, as he completed only four of 10 passes while throwing one touchdown.

If Kaepernick’s injury does turn into a long-term issue, San Francisco could be forced to add another quarterback to its roster. Backup signal-caller Thad Lewis tore his ACL in last night’s contest and is out for the season, meaning the Niners have only two healthy quarterbacks available: Gabbert, and sixth-round rookie Jeff Driskel.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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