Colin Kaepernick led the 49ers to their first Super Bowl game since 1994 but lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the National Football League championship game. At the end of their catastrophic year coach Jim Tomsula was relieved of his duties and replaced by Chip Kelly; now the 49ers have the pleasure of adjusting to Kelly’s hard style.
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McDonald’s opponent had slipped coming out of the backfield, leaving the tight end with plenty of room to run. Gabbert also performed well on Tuesday, connecting 10-12 times during the team drill and 6-10 passes in the red zone.
The former second-round draft pick had 30 catches, 326 receiving yards and three touchdowns a year ago. Now he’s losing opportunities to prove he should reclaim the job Gabbert took from him midway through the 2015 campaign. This offense is definitely run-oriented, and the quarterbacks legs figure to play a role in that, helping complement Hyde & Co. It is worth noting that 89 of the rushing yards came from the quarterbacks. The two had been splitting time with the first-team offense before Gabbert got all the time with the starters the past two days. Gabbert had a 95.0 passer rating, totaling 63 passing yards to go with three scrambles for 18 yards in three series.
Blaine Gabbert tossed a touchdown pass for the 49ers, who impressively rolled up offensive yardage in Chip Kelly’s first game as coach before stalling in the second half. Kaepernick will not be playing in Sunday’s preseason opener due to a shoulder injury. The third-year running back’s first few snaps of 2016 were decidedly mixed.
Thad Lewis took over for Gabbert late in the first quarter and put points on the scoreboard during his first possession.
Savage added a 9-yard touchdown pass to Hunt with 9:22 left in the contest to make it 24-13. But he was later hit in the hole by nose tackle Christian Covington – he was being blocked by right tackle Trent Brown – and fumbled. He first allowed a third-and-goal touchdown catch to the Texans’ Stephen Anderson.
49ers: RT Anthony Davis, who sat out previous 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. One of the players with whom he is competing for a roster spot, DuJuan Harris, fumbled on Houston’s 2-yard line in the second quarter.
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Relating to his on-going competition for the 49ers starting QB spot, there was good news and bad news for Colin Kaepernick on Sunday. They’ve rotated Michael Wilhoite, Gerald Hodges and Ray Ray Armstrong at the spot in camp and did so again throughout Sunday’s game.
