The plan coming into the week was for 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to practice without restrictions and then play in Friday’s preseason game against the Packers.
Kaepernick had missed practice time last week while dealing with a tired arm, but has been on the practice field this week without a “pitch count” governing the number of throws he’s making. Coach Chip Kelly said that Kaepernick has been splitting the first-team reps with Blaine Gabbert, but that no determination has been made at this point about who will take the first snap on Friday.
“We haven’t discussed it, yet,” Kelly said, via CSNBayArea.com. “We got two days of training to go through. We’ll see. He’s on track. We’re excited and we’re hopeful he will be ready to go. But I’m not going to put the cart before the horse. We have a system. When we get to Friday, we’ll know exactly from [head athletic trainer Jeff Ferguson] who’s up and who’s down. If he’s up, he’s going to play.”
Kaepernick last played in a game last November and spent the offseason recovering from multiple surgeries, but Kelly said the quarterback has been “sharp with all the things mentally” the last few days. A sharp physical outing on Friday would be a big next step in Kaepernick’s bid to return to the lineup.