49ers head coach Chip Kelly provided an update Thursday on quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has been sidelined lately with a sore right shoulder.
“From what we understand, it’s not a long-term thing,” Kelly said of Kaepernick’s injury. “Talking to him, he says he feels really good about it. But we don’t want to throw him back out there and have a setback right now,”
The 28-year-old threw 47 passes on the side while the 49ers practiced with the Broncos on Thursday, per Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group). The 49ers face Denver in a preseason game Saturday, but Kaepernick won’t play in that.
San Francisco is currently hoping Kaepernick will be ready for its Aug. 26 home tilt with Green Bay. Kaepernick hasn’t thrown in team drills in over a week, which has precluded him from competing with Blaine Gabbert for the 49ers’ starting job. Gabbert went 4 of 10 for 63 yards and a touchdown in the Niners’ preseason opener versus Houston last Sunday.
Here’s more frm the NFC:
- Giants kicker Josh Brown was arrested in May 2015 on a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge as a result of an incident with his now-former wife, but the NFL didn’t discipline him until Wednesday. When asked what took so long to punish Brown, who received a one-game suspension, vice president of communications Brian McCarthy told James Kratch of NJ.com, “It was a comprehensive investigation with multiple interviews, analyzing a tremendous amount of documents. Also, the player appealed.” Given that Brown appealed, it’s no surprise that he doesn’t agree with the punishment (via Kratch). Brown’s reasoning is that the state of Washington, where the dispute occurred, dropped the charge against him five days after his arrest. “While I’m not OK with the decision, I have to respect it,” he conceded.
- Could the Vikings keep four tight ends? It’s a possibility as sixth-round rookie David Morgan continues to prove that he can do more than block, Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press writes. “He’s got good hands,” head coach Mike Zimmer said, adding that he doesn’t have reservations about keeping four TEs. “He runs good routes, he gets open, he’s got a little sliver to him. That part I didn’t know about.” At tight end, starter Kyle Rudolph, MyCole Pruitt, and Rhett Ellison (expected to be taken off PUP for opener) are considered locks to make the team. If the Vikings do keep four tight ends, that might be a bad sign for All-Pro fullback Zach Line because Ellison could fill his role.
- Cortland Finnegan’s deal with the Saints calls for him to earn a $985K base salary with a $50K signing bonus and a $650K cap hit (minimum salary benefit), Nick Underhill of The Advocate tweets.
- It’s a safe assumption that the Cowboys will convert some of Travis Frederick‘s $14.221MM base salary for 2017 into signing bonus money for cap purposes, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets.
- In case you missed it, PFR reviewed the Packers’ offseason Thursday.
Zach Links contributed to this post.