HEADLINES

Colin Kaepernick

Extra Points: Gabbert, Pitta, Archer

November 9th, 2015 at 8:39pm CST by Zachary Links

No surprise here, but 49ers coach Jim Tomsula announced that Blaine Gabbert will start for SF once again when the Niners take on the Seahawks in Week 11, as Taylor Price of 49ers.com writes. Gabbert completed 15 of 25 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in Sunday’s Week 9 home win over the Falcons and, at least for now, it sounds like former starter Colin Kaepernick should make himself comfortable on the bench.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • A decision will be made by Wednesday on whether tight end Dennis Pitta makes a comeback this season from his second serious hip injury, as Clifton Brown of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. According to Ravens coach John Harbaugh, the decision comes down to Pitta’s long-term health, not his ability to play again. “He did look good in practice,” Harbaugh said. “We had a tough time covering him. He was doing stuff for the look team and made a bunch of plays out there. He just kind of looked like his old self out there. But don’t construe that as saying that he’s ready to go, because it’s not about that. The doctors are going to take a hard look at that, and help him decide, is this safe? It’s going to be based on how the hip is responding to the practices.” Pitta, 30, enjoyed his best season in 2012 when he helped the Ravens win a Super Bowl, catching 61 passes for 669 yards and seven touchdowns during the regular season, followed by 14 catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns during the playoffs.
  • The Saints worked out former Giants wide receiver Preston Parker on Monday, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Parker, 28, has 85 career receptions for 1,057 yards and five touchdowns.
  • Running back Dri Archer has passed on ten offers to join practice squads, including an offer from the Steelers, a league source tells Mike Florio of PFT. Archer, a third-round pick in 2014, instead plans to wait and see whether any opportunities arise to join a 53-man roster. Florio speculates that his opening might be with the Patriots now that Dion Lewis is done for the year.

49ers Notes: Kaepernick, Tomsula, Bush

November 8th, 2015 at 8:12pm CST by Rob DiRe

Blaine Gabbert played well enough to win, but no matter how he fared the bigger story is the tension that has risen between Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers organization. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that based on the current climate, “it is virtually certain [Kaepernick] is not back in San Francisco in 2016, according to team and league sources.”

Kaepernick’s 2016 salary becomes fully guaranteed on April 1st, and it is unlikely the team would want that number on their books if they aren’t committed to him, and La Canfora describes the situation as beyond repair.

Here are a few more notes coming out of San Francisco:

  • While La Canfora believes the situation cannot be turned around, Conor Orr of NFL.com writes that the 49ers coaching staff still believes in Kaepernick as the starting quarterback going forward.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com takes a look at the idea behind Kaepernick’s contract, and what direction the 49ers will go in from here. One option Fitzgerald believes the team could explore would be asking Kaepernick to take a pay cut in the offseason by threatening to release him in late March, when he’d be unlikely to receive a contract comparable to what they can offer.
  • Even though Gabbert played well and got the win, head coach Jim Tomsula would not name him the starter going forward, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayAreas.com. “Gabbert was our starter today,” said Tomsula. “And I don’t have a comment past that.”
  • Kaepernick has been the focus of much of the 49ers’ woes this season, but Tim Kawakami of InsideBayArea.com writes that he is far from the only one on the hot seat during a bad start to the season. He points out that Tomsula, offensive coordinator Geep Chryst, general manager Trent Baalke, and owner Jed York as members of the organization in a no-win situation.
  • 49ers’ running back Reggie Bush is planning to sue the city of St. Louis after suffering a possible career-ending injury after slipping on the concrete at the Edward Jones Dome, writes La Canfora. Bush will likely seek gross negligence, given the danger of having the slippery surface so close to the field.

NFC Notes: Kaepernick, JPP, Hardy

November 6th, 2015 at 7:08pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

For the first time since 2012, the 49ers will have someone other than Colin Kaepernick under center this Sunday when they face the Falcons. After the Kaepernick-led 49ers stumbled to a 2-6 start, head coach Jim Tomsula elected to make a change at quarterback and turn to backup Blaine Gabbert. Tomsula said that sitting will enable Kaepernick to take a breath and refocus.

“I’m not out of breath, so I don’t understand that reference,” Kaepernick said Friday, according to the Mercury News’ Cam Inman.

In response to offensive coordinator Geep Chryst‘s assessment that Kaepernick has been more focused on avoiding mistakes than making plays this season, the 28-year-old stated, “I don’t believe that’s accurate. Every time I step on the field, I step on the field to make plays. That’s just a matter of opinion.”

While Kaepernick may not agree with Tomsula or Chryst, he added that he’s respectful of the coaches’ authority (Twitter link via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez) and won’t be a distraction to either Gabbert or the rest of the 49ers.

“I’ll support my teammates and support Blaine in everything they do, because they’ve been good to me,” Kaepernick stated.

More from around the NFC:

  • Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who lost his right index finger in a devastating July 4 fireworks accident, could make his long-awaited season debut this week. Linebacker Devon Kennard said Pierre-Paul has been “very good” in practice, while head coach Tom Coughlin added that Pierre-Paul has “done everything we’ve asked him to do and we’re very positive about it.” Coughlin will decide by 4 p.m. Saturday whether to activate Pierre-Paul for the Giants’ game in Tampa (story via Brian Heyman of Newsday).
  • The Cowboys and Greg Hardy are facing further backlash from media and fans after Deadspin released horrifying photos and details of the defensive end’s 2014 domestic violence arrest Friday. In light of Deadspin’s report, Christine Brennan of USA Today writes that Hardy should be banished from the league.
  • Contrary to the wishes of Brennan and many others, the Cowboys won’t send Hardy packing, according to The Dallas Morning News’ Rick Gosselin. The organization is unfazed by the Deadspin report and believes that Hardy has been suitably punished for his past misdeeds (which came when was a Panther). Further, considering the franchise is in the business of winning games, its thinking is that having Hardy around is more beneficial than detrimental. Hardy has indeed been an asset on the field for Dallas, racking up three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in three games, but his presence hasn’t yet led to any victories.

NFC Notes: JPP, Bradford, 49ers, Megatron

November 4th, 2015 at 1:35pm CST by Luke Adams

Jason Pierre-Paul is practicing for the Giants, and while the team had initially been eyeing a Week 10 showdown with the undefeated Patriots as a target date for JPP’s return to the field, it sounds like he could play in Week 9 against the Buccaneers (Twitter link via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News).

As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (via Twitter), Pierre-Paul’s one-year deal with the Giants was set up to be based on seven weeks’ worth of playing-time incentives and per-game roster bonuses. However, if JPP makes his season debut this weekend, he would have eight weeks to try to earn those bonuses and incentives.

As we wait to see if Pierre-Paul is activated for the Giants’ next game, let’s round up some more odds and ends from across the NFC….

  • If the Eagles offered Sam Bradford a four-year contract extension at some point, it sounds like that’s news to him, as the veteran quarterback told reporters today (Twitter link via Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer). “That offer must have gotten lost in the mail,” Bradford said.
  • Colin Kaepernick likely hasn’t started his last game for the 49ers, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), who says that the team hopes to get the quarterback back on the field in the second half, believing he has too much talent to simply give up on him. While the Niners may feel that way today, continued ineffectiveness from Kaepernick down the stretch could result in him being traded or even released in the offseason.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, writing for The Sporting News, sounds more skeptical that Kaepernick will see much playing time during the remainder of the 2015 season, and suggests the 49ers will likely find a way to move on from their quarterback in the offseason.
  • Asked if he asked the Lions to consider moving him prior to the trade deadline, wide receiver Calvin Johnson replied that he hasn’t thought about anything like that, according to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “No, I haven’t got to a point where I’ve said that,” Johnson said. “I’m just always trying to play ball. I love my teammates, so that hasn’t crossed my mind.”
  • Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane is on track to return to practice next Monday after spending the season’s first nine weeks on the physically unable to perform list, writes Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk. Lane’s return to practice would begin a three-week clock for the Seahawks to either move him to the active roster or shut him down for the year.

49ers Won’t Trade Colin Kaepernick

November 3rd, 2015 at 2:50pm CST by Zachary Links

2:50pm: While it appears Kaepernick won’t be dealt today, there are multiple teams interested in possibly acquiring him “down the road,” says Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter links). Getlin adds that there’s a strong sense that the 49ers’ front office influenced the decision to bench Kaepernick in favor of Gabbert.

12:28pm: The 49ers aren’t trading the recently benched Colin Kaepernick today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). San Francisco apparently hasn’t ruled out starting him later in the season.

On Monday the 49ers decided to bench the struggling Kaepernick in favor of backup Blaine Gabbert. Kaepernick, who turns 28 today, has completed just 59.3 percent of his pass attempts for 1,615 yards in eight games and he has six touchdown passes against five interceptions. With a career-low passer rating of 78.8 and two consecutive losses against division rivals, one can understand why the 49ers are making this change. Of course, it’s also fair to wonder if Gabbert is capable of playing any better than Kaepernick has been.

The 49ers can get out of Kaepernick’s deal without any real financial repercussion this offseason and many have speculated that they will do so now that they have bumped him down on the depth chart. However, it appears that the Niners aren’t ready to give up on No. 7 just yet. Kaepernick probably wouldn’t net them much of a return anyway, so the Niners don’t have much incentive to part with him.

QB Rumors: RGIII, Glennon, Kaepernick

November 3rd, 2015 at 8:22am CST by Luke Adams

Major in-season NFL trades aren’t all that common, and deals involving quarterbacks are particularly rare, since it’s not easy to plug in new signal-callers to an offense halfway through the season. Still, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few QBs around the league who are in the news today, with this afternoon’s trade deadline looming. Let’s round up the latest….

  • Washington hasn’t received any trade inquiries so far on Robert Griffin III, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Any team that acquired RGIII would have to take on his $16MM+ option for 2016, which is guaranteed for injury, so it seems unlikely that any club would want to take that risk.
  • The Buccaneers aren’t fielding calls from other teams wanting to acquire Mike Glennon, tweets Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. According to Stroud, Bucs GM Jason Licht isn’t willing to move Jameis Winston‘s backup for a mid-round pick. Glennon remains under contract with Tampa Bay through the 2016 season, so if the Bucs keep him through this year, they could still consider a deal in the offseason.
  • Examining the Colin Kaepernick situation in San Francisco, Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report says he heard from a 49ers player on Monday who said that Kaepernick had “pretty much lost” the locker room recently. Still, Freeman places some of the blame for Kaepernick’s regression on San Francisco’s management and coaching staff, arguing that the signal-caller “could have been much better served.”
  • With their top two quarterbacks injured, the Jets are exploring a possible trade or free agent signing, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com wonders if the team might consider trading for Kaepernick. As Cimini observes, GM Mike Maccagnan isn’t afraid of high-profile moves, but there are a handful of roadblocks that would have to be overcome for such a deal to be consummated by 3:00pm CT today.

49ers To Bench Colin Kaepernick

November 2nd, 2015 at 9:41pm CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers are benching Colin Kaepernick, according to Kyle McLorg of BayAreaSportsGuy.com. With No. 7 heading to the bench, Blaine Gabbert will be under center for Sunday’s game against the Falcons.

NFL: San Diego Chargers at San Francisco 49ers

49ers players were split on Kaepernick and the organization stayed with him as long as it could, Rapoport tweets. Earlier today, head coach Jim Tomsula declined to give Kaepernick a vote of confidence when given the opportunity. Now, we understand why.

It has been said that each game in the 2015 season would be a referendum on Kaepernick’s status as 49ers quarterback going forward. Now that the signal caller is getting benched, it seems like a foregone conclusion that the Niners will cut him before his salary becomes guaranteed for 2016. The 49ers officially have until April 1st to make that call.

Kaepernick, who turns 28 on Tuesday, has completed just 59.3 percent of his pass attempts for 1,615 yards in eight games and he has six touchdown passes against five interceptions. With a career-low passer rating of 78.8 and two consecutive losses against division rivals, one can understand why the 49ers are making this change. Of course, it’s also fair to wonder if Gabbert is capable of playing any better than Kaepernick has been.

Gabbert, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2011 draft, played three seasons for the Jaguars before joining the 49ers in 2014. Over that time, he never had a completion percentage higher than 58.3 or a quarterback rating above 77.4.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC Notes: 49ers, Kaepernick, Bears, Vikings

November 2nd, 2015 at 9:23pm CST by Zachary Links

49ers coach Jim Tomsula declined to give embattled quarterback Colin Kaepernick a vote of confidence on Monday, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes. In past weeks, Tomsula has shot down speculation that there could be a QB controversy in SF. He didn’t do that this time around.

“We’re evaluating everything right now,” Tomsula said when asked about his team’s quarterback situation. “We’re in the middle of it right now and I don’t have any comments on any position on our field right now. We’re evaluating everyone.”

Kaepernick has completed just 59.3 percent of his pass attempts for 1,615 yards in eight games and he has six touchdown passes against five interceptions.

Here’s more from the NFC:

  • 49ers running back Mike Davis will have surgery on Tuesday on his broken hand, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. After surgery, Davis be given an idea of how long he’ll be sidelined.
  • Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times wonders if Bears outside linebackers Lamarr Houston and Willie Young are on their way out of Chicago after playing a combined 11 defensive snaps on Sunday. One could point to their lack of usage as a sign that they’ll be traded, but I would argue that the Bears would have been better off auditioning them to interested teams if that is their intention.
  • Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press wonders if the Vikings might dangle tight end Chase Ford prior to Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline. Ford started five games last season and caught 23 passes for 258 yards in 11 games overall. However, he hasn’t taken a single snap this season and “some believe” that he could be worth a late-round pick, Tomasson writes. Ford is the team’s No. 4 tight end behind Kyle Rudolph, Rhett Ellison, and rookie MyCole Pruitt.

NFC Notes: Davis, Kaepernick, Forte, Patterson

November 1st, 2015 at 8:31pm CST by Rob DiRe

Among trade candidates on the 49ers, Vernon Davis has been outspoken about not wanting to leave San Francisco. Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee writes that after Sunday’s loss, he came around to the idea that the team might move him. “It’s a possibility; you know there’s nothing I can do about it,” said Davis. “ … I’m a positive believer. I believe everything works its way out for the good for those who are good people. But I’m always prepared for anything. Nothing new surprises me.”

Here are some more notes from around the NFC:

  • After another ugly performance by the San Francisco offense, two 49ers players texted Jason Cole of Bleacher Report saying that it was time to bench Colin Kaepernick. Cole was very clear that both players still believed Kaepernick should be in plans to lead the offense in the future, but just needs time on the bench to clear his head.
  • The Bears are optimistic for their running back Matt Forte, who exited the game against the Vikings with a knee injury. The team does not think Forte suffered an ACL injury, believing he has an MCL injury, according to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1 (via Twitter).
  • One player who was expected to be on the trade block is Vikings receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, but despite having only two catches so far this season, he isn’t going anywhere, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Considering the former first-round pick has been passed on the depth chart by a pair of relatively unknown commodities in Charles Johnson and Stefon Diggs, it is surprising that the team would not consider trading him.

NFC Notes: 49ers, JPP, Lions, Bears

October 31st, 2015 at 5:58pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

A quick look around the NFC…

  • If the 49ers – losers of five of their first seven games – continue their downward spiral through the rest of the season, first-year head coach Jim Tomsula and his staff (notably offensive coordinator Geep Chryst and defensive coordinator Eric Mangini) could end up as the fall guys, per Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. While general manager Trent Baalke and quarterback Colin Kaepernick may also be under fire, Maiocco believes both have built up credit within the organization via past accomplishments. Thus, they have better odds than the coaches of remaining with the Niners in 2016.
  • Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, finally back with the team after a July 4 fireworks accident that cost him his right index finger, is confident his injury won’t affect his on-field performance. “There’s not going to be a major adjustment. As far as my hand goes, I’ll get used to it. I’m just fortunate to play football again,” Pierre-Paul said, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “The day I walked in here I already won. People said I was going to be out for the whole season,” the 26-year-old added. Pierre-Paul won’t play in the Giants-Saints game Sunday and it’s unclear at the moment when he’ll make his season debut.
  • New Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter had past run-ins with the law in Knoxville – a DUI in 2006 and an aggravated burglary charge in 2009 – but the records of his arrests mysteriously vanished, according to Robert Allen of the Detroit Free Press. “There’s no record. There’s nothing,” said Knoxville police spokesman Darrell DeBusk.
  • The Bears worked out free agent punter Zoltan Mesko on Friday, reports Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Chicago brought in the left-footed Mesko in an effort to prepare for Vikings lefty Jeff Locke – whom the Bears will face Sunday.
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