I have no idea what to make of that, but rest assured, Gabbert did not take advantage and did little to distance himself with his play on the field going 4-for-10 for 63 yards and one touchdown.
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49ers: RT Anthony Davis, who sat out past year in temporary retirement, played with the second string behind Trent Brown in his first game in more than 19 months and was beaten by Eric Lee for a sack late in the first half.
Unfortunately for the 49ers, Colin Kaepernick is now dealing with shoulder fatigue; likely a result of his long off-season spent rehabbing surgery instead of throwing.
Ponder spent training camp with the Raiders a year ago.
The injury leaves San Francisco with just two completely healthy quarterbacks in camp. Enemkpali will miss the entire 2016 season. Management knew that he was a project that needed some seasoning. Driskel completed just 4-of-12 passes for a whopping 20 yards in his debut, which equates out to an average of 1.7 yards-per-completion.
After the news of Lewis’ injury broke Monday, Niners coach Chip Kelly and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day said the team would explore options to bring in another arm. But Ponder is not a threat to the top two, certainly not to Kaepernick.
With so much uncertainty at the quarterback position, having a player with some National Football League experience, the right skillset to run Kelly’s offense, and experience in that system could have been invaluable out of the potential number three. The 28-year-old started for the Florida State Seminoles from 2008 to 2010.
The team had Kaepernick back off his passing work after he experienced shoulder soreness following practice on August 10. Both were chosen during the NFL Draft in 2011. That should not change before the start of the season, and there’s no guarantee Ponder sticks through the preseason. There was a point in time where people associated with the franchise were under the belief that the quarterback position was finally stabilized.
Then the Chiefs were flagged for having 12 men on the field, moving the ball to the 1, and Pope went off left guard to score the victor. In addition, the 49ers lost quarterback Thad Lewis to a torn ACL in his left knee in Sunday’s preseason game with Houston and placed the journeyman on injured reserve on Tuesday. Chip Kelly intends to lean on the running game while he figures out how to make the passing game an asset.
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The potential trade to the Broncos cratered because Kaepernick refused to slash his salary and the 49ers declined to pay a large chunk of it in order to facilitate the deal. Defensive end Christian Covington forced San Francisco running back Carlos Hyde to fumble, and linebacker John Simon scooped up the ball and scampered 41 yards for a score with 11:33 left in the first quarter. In fact, given the performance by San Francisco’s signal callers, it’s a situation that might be inducing some panic within the organization and its fanbase.
