After another completely uninspiring performance by Blaine Gabbert, 49ers head coach Chip Kelly left the door open on the possibility of making a change at quarterback after Thursday night’s 33-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
According to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, Kelly was asked if the quarterback position will be re-assessed after a fourth straight defeat.
“I think we’re going to look at everything,” Kelly said. “I mean, we’re 1-4, we’ve got to make sure that we’re going out there and giving us the best chance to win, so we’re going to look at everything.”
Kelly has been adamant until now that Gabbert is the team’s starting quarterback. He’s said that Colin Kaepernick isn’t physically ready to be the starting quarterback as recently as 10 days ago.
But Gabbert is just not giving the 49ers much chance to win games. He passed for just 162 yards with a touchdown and two interception Thursday night against the Cardinals. He’s had just one game this season with a passer rating north of 90.0. He’s averaging a paltry 5.9 yards per attempt and has eclipsed 200 yards passing in just one game.
The 49ers next game isn’t for 10 days now when they travel to face the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 16. The extra few days could give the 49ers the chance to change quarterbacks with a few extra days to get up to speed in time for kickoff. If they don’t make a change now, they may have to wait until after their bye in Week 8.
Whether Kaepernick can be an improvement remains to be seen, but Gabbert is a known quantity at this point.