The decision to start Blaine Gabbert at quarterback against the Falcons on Sunday paid off with a victory for the 49ers.
Gabbert went 15-of-25 for 185 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 17-16 win that sent the Niners to their bye week on a winning note. Those notes haven’t been played all that often this season, but being on the right side of the final score wasn’t enough to guarantee Gabbert another turn in the big chair.
“Gabbert was our starter today,” Tomsula said, via CSNBayArea.com. “And I don’t have a comment past that.”
Tomsula said last week that he benched Colin Kaepernick to give the quarterback a chance to “step back and breathe,” something that Kaepernick said he didn’t need or understand when asked about it on Friday. Tomsula has a bye this week to use as a gauge of Kaepernick’s respiration, the way the team responded to Gabbert and anything else he might decide to bring into the conversation.
Gabbert played well enough to get another start, though, and he got the result that the 49ers were looking for, which will likely make it harder to flip right back to Kaepernick.