Blaine Gabbert: “None of my fabric’s been ripped.”

SANTA CLARA — Here’s the transcript of Blaine Gabbert’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department.

 

How are you feeling a couple days after?

“I feel good. It’s always good to get that first win under your belt. But, we’re onto the Panthers. It’s a quick week, a short week playing Mondaynight. We’ve got to turn the page pretty quickly and start preparing for Carolina.”

 

No, I meant how you felt physically because I know you ran a lot–?

“Oh yeah, just the usual football stuff. But, no I feel great. It’s good to get that football soreness back and that’s something that, I don’t know, I kind of look forward to on Monday and Tuesday mornings. It just shows that you played a game. But, now it’s on the process of preparing for this week and getting your body back to where it needs to be.”

 

When you get back to work, what are the things that you look to clean up from what happened on Monday night?

“I think just little things. Things that can keep drives alive. Things that can start drives faster. But, for the most part, we executed in the red zone, we executed on third down. There’s definitely areas that we can improve on, especially in the third down category, but I think we started off on the right foot in those two specific areas and now it’s just kind of fine tuning the little things, getting the timing down and just moving forward with that.”

 

I’ve heard some analysts say that they thought you played too fast and I was just wondering how you would evaluate how you were playing and if you felt that you were in a good rhythm or–?

“Yeah, for the most part I felt like I was in rhythm all game, going through my reads, taking off when I needed to take off there on third down. So, I would say that I’m just trying to execute our offense and that’s it.”

 

No sacks on Monday, none in the preseason either. Is that a factor of just being in the league for your sixth season and knowing how to go through your progressions more quickly?

“Yeah. Sacks are such momentum plays for a defense like the Rams. Anything that I can do to get the ball out of my hands, especially when they’re trying to heat you up with pressure, just to not give them that satisfaction of having a sack on third down because that kind of builds momentum into the next drive. But, really our offensive line did a great job. That’s a really talented front seven that we faced and [Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator] Gregg Williams dials up a lot of exotic pressures and our communication was great all game long. When they did pressure us, I felt like myself, the receivers and the running backs were on the same page from a hot standpoint.”

 

Kind of looking back on the early part of your career, you took a lot of sacks early on in Jacksonville. Is that one of the bigger differences between a young quarterback and a more experienced one?

“Yeah. I think at times, young quarterbacks tend to try and do too much, especially on third down, trying to hold onto the ball, force it past the sticks. But, when you’re in max-drop zones, sometimes your best throw is underneath for catch and carries and let the guys go to work underneath. But yeah, I think there’s a combination. There’s a multitude of factors that go into why a sack kind of happens. It’s definitely on the quarterback, but there’s a lot of factors that kind of go into that.”

 

You mentioned Gregg Williams and some of the exotic stuff he does. Are the Panthers more basic, just line up and go play football?

“Yeah, we’re still kind of getting to know the Panthers. But, for the most part from what we’ve seen is they just go out and play their stuff. They’re an extremely talented defense. We know what they accomplished last year. They played a great game versus Denver in Week 1 and it’s going to be a challenge, but we’re going to prepare hard and be prepared for it.”

 

With the quick turnaround, how fast do you jump into Carolina stuff? What’s your last 48 hours or so been like?

“Since we play on Monday night, you watch the film there Tuesday morning as group. But, you’ve got to turn the page pretty quickly and right in our afternoon meetings we started preparing for Carolina and started to get a jump start on the film because we’ve got a little catching up to do.”

 

ESPN announcer Steve Young said on the broadcast that when he talked to the coaches that you see the field very well and it’s just a matter of sometimes just letting it rip, letting it go. Is that a conversation you’ve had at times with the coaches?

“Yeah. I think any quarterback, you just let it rip. There’s no point in holding anything back, especially in a game. You’ve just got to see what you see and trust the throw and for the most part I thought I did that. There’s a couple throws, like in any football game, you’d like to have back. But, we executed our offense. Like I said, we were 50-percent on third downs and four-for-four with four touchdowns in the red zone and anytime you can do that in a football game and not turn the football over, the chances of victory are huge. That’s just something that we can keep building on as we progress in the season.”

 

What’s it been about WR Jeremy Kerley that’s allowed him to transition pretty seamlessly in these last few weeks?

“He’s savvy and I don’t use that term very lightly because there’s a lot of things that go into being a savvy football player. You’ve got to be smart. You’ve got to have good timing, good feel especially at his position. The way he came in, being only here for a week and playing, shoot, the entire game for us, it was great to see it. But, that’s just a credit to how he works throughout the week in practice mastering this offense and I’m just looking forward to building that relationship throughout the season.”

 

Given that he works mostly out of the slot, is that a position for you that you need to develop more chemistry with just because he might be running more option routes or are there things that you do working with him individually that build that?

“Well, I think the slot guys, the tight ends and the running backs, those are big matchups on the inside because if they’re trying to double the guys outside, you usually have singled up on the inside. Any time you can isolate those guys on linebackers and safeties or whatnot, those are favorable advantages for the offense.”

 

The Panthers looked at you hard in 2011 coming out of the draft. What do you remember about that pre-draft process and how did you gauge necessarily what they were maybe going to do between you and Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton?

“Yeah. We always had good meetings. I think every meeting in that pre-draft process was a positive one and you never know where you’re really going to get drafted. You interview with so many teams, so many coaching staffs, visit so many different organizations on those individual visits and they’re a great staff. [Carolina Panthers head] coach [Ron] Rivera’s a good coach and a great person and I wished him nothing but the best. But, they went with Cam and that’s how it goes.”

 

Did you think you had a chance to go one?

“Like I said, you never know. It’s such, kind of, a tossup in the draft room, especially going into the green room on that draft night. You’re like, ‘Well, I could go here. I could fall to here.’ But, no, it was a great time and I was just happy to get drafted and that was it.”

 

Is that where you had your first career start too? Was that in Carolina?

“Yeah. It was in Carolina in 2011. It was actually, they had like a tropical storm that game and it was wild. They had like hurricane weather and the water was overflowing that top bowl. I just remember [Tampa Bay Buccaneers LB] Darryl Smith carrying, he carried [former Jacksonville Jaguars K] Josh Scobee out of the tunnel at halftime because there was like a foot-and-a-half of water sitting in the tunnel. It was wild.”

 

You’re a leader on this team and there’s been reports, talk on TV about the fabric of this team being ripped by the protests and stuff. I was just wondering what the vibe is this week and how the team is?

“I think the vibe’s been the same as it has been since we got here April 4th. We’ve got an eager group of guys in this locker room that are here to win a lot of football games. The vibe’s been extremely positive. We’re out here having fun, but working extremely hard at our craft. We’re just going to keep that mindset through the ups and downs because there’s going to be downs this year. There’s going to be wins and losses. But, if you can keep even keel and come to work with the same mindset every day after a game, you’re going to see consistent improvement throughout the season.”

 

So you would disagree that the fabric of the team has been ripped?

“I don’t know who personally said the fabric’s been ripped, but none of my fabric’s been ripped. So, my shirts are intact.”

The NFL announced their new concussion initiative. $60 million for new helmets and new technology. Do you have any thoughts on that, what you would like to see in helmets?

“I’m just going to stick to my old trusty Riddell Revolution. It’s done me well so far. So, no point in changing it for myself.”

 

Can you compare helmets from like high school, college, pro, like how you felt when you wear them–?

“A helmet’s a helmet. You’ve got an air bladder in there that they put air in and it’s supposed to protect your head I guess.”

 

Last year, the team won the Monday night opener and then went on the road and had a pretty tough go of it in Pittsburgh. I was wondering, do you guys talk about that? Are you–?

“The past is the past. Our mindset going into this week, it’s a new week. One down, one to go is what [head] coach [Chip] Kelly always says. You put the last game behind and you’ve got to move on. Good, bad, indifferent, win, loss. It doesn’t matter. You have to learn from it, kind of process and diagnose the things that you did well and you did wrong. But, we turned the page. We’re on the Panthers now and that’s our sole focus going there, it’s an east coast trip, and just getting our minds and bodies prepared for it.”

 

But it’s not a good warning to remember what happened last year?

“I mean, that was 365 days ago and we’ve got a whole different group of guys. And like I said, we’re just focused on the Panthers and getting better each and every day this week and going to put our best foot forward there on Sunday.”

 

Regarding Kerley, did you have a sense before the game that he was pretty on it and had the potential to be a pretty big factor?

“Yeah. Just seeing how we had worked together in practice that week, kind of looking at some film, kind of seeing where they were soft and voiding some zones there in the slot and some of the matchups that we had in man coverage, it was a good thing to kind of have in my back pocket going into that game. But, we still had to go out and execute. He did a great job kind of sitting down in zones and beating man coverage when he had to and he had a big play there on fourth down. But, it’s just the first step of this season and you’re going to see us get better from here on out.”

This article has 107 Comments

  1. Grant,

    Are you going to go Trent Dilfer, or are you going to admit you were wrong about CK’s actions causing a divided locker room?

    1. This is all yet unknown… At the moment all seems good, because they won. But who knows how it will shake out if the media continues to ask questions regarding it and they lose a few games.

  2. Listen up rocket, and Wilson, TrollD and the rest of the Negative Nellie Crew.

    http://www.49erswebzone.com/commentary/1607-49ers-roster-far-more-talented-national-perception-indicates/

    Look at the talent in the trenches on this team. Completely rebuilt in in 2 years time. And by the way, let me let you all in on a little secret. Who do you think is responsible for these talented UFA’s: Ian Williams, Chris Davis, Gerret Celek? Baalke, that’s who. And who is responsible for making last minute trades like Kerley, for a cast off like Thomas, and how about Rod Streater, whom Baalke picked up for next to nothing. He pulled a rabbit out of the hat with the Anquan Boldin trade as well. Same with the Gabbert trade. Same with the Hodges trade, a starting ILB in base defense, for an unknown Center the Packers swiftly cut.

    I could go on and on. 2 years removed from the perfect storm of tough personnel circumstances that would have crippled most NFL franchises for years. A head coaching change and mass exodus of highly rated veteran talent, including Aldon Smith and the sudden retirement of Chris Borland, and this 49ers team has quickly reloaded with young, talent on defense, and offense.

    He’s even got talent on our practice squad (WR’s Dre Anderson, Chris Harper, C Alex Balducci, T Fahn Cooper, LB’s Marcus Rush and Shane Skov, TE Je’Ron Hamm, RB Kelvin Taylor, and “Mighty Mouse” CB Prince Charles Iworah).

    Baalke has one weakness, and that’s identifying WR talent in the draft, I’ll give you that.

    However, what Baalke has done in a mere 2 offseasons, completely overhauling nearly an entire roster, would have taken some GM’s a half of a decade to pull off. There is still a bit more work to do, this team isn’t a Super Contender just yet, but it’s far from a trainwreck! It’s time to think about the unfortunate chain of events that took place during the 2015 offseason, the cyclic nature of the NFL, and give credit where credit is due. This team is well on it’s way to getting back in the spotlight, and Baalke deserves some praise!

    1. I do like his strategy to load up in key areas with several players and see what sticks. I hope he does it with the wr position next year. If we had stronger talent at the wr position we would be a dangerous team. However, Carolina will probably expose some weaknesses.

    2. Are you using a fan post on 49erswebzone as proof of your position?

      Don’t get me wrong, I think the 49ers are more talented than they are given credit nationally, and by some fans. On D especially. But lets see how the team looks after 4 and 8 games before singing praises of how talented the team is, and what a great job Baalke has done.

        1. Good question. I can’t recall exactly, but I remember starting to feel they really had turned the corner after about the first 4 games or so. Still didn’t think at that point they would go on to a 13-3 record, but I had seen enough to feel confident they were now a highly competitive team. All about the way they were playing, regardless of results.

              1. That Alex to Delanie game-winning 4th down TD pass will stay in my memory for good along with a 2-3 dozen other 49er offensive plays over the last 3 decades.

    3. 49R

      (1) Baalke is not responsible for Kerley. He was requested by Kelly and Modkins.

      (2) Baalke is a superior defensive scout.

      (3) Baalke has a personality defect that makes him both peculiarly well- and ill-suited to being a GM.

      (a) Well-suited: Baalke’s incredible self-belief allows him to follow his own hunches, and when he is right, very few others would have been.

      (b) Ill-suited: Baalke’s incredible sense of self-importance makes him incapable of relating to other human beings, and when he’s wrong, everybody saw it coming.

      (4) Baalke has absolutely no credibility drafting any offensive position.

      1. “Baalke is not responsible for Kerley. He was requested by Kelly and Modkins.”

        According to who, other than your good self?

        1. Scooter,

          At what point during the Baalke era did you realize he could competently evaluate receivers?

          1. I see. So because Baalke can’t tell a good WR from a bad one, it must have been Kelly and Modkins that wanted him. Is that what you are implying?

            1. Well, the first guy Chip personally made a priority was a receiver from Canada by the name of Eric Rogers. And as the pseudo GM for the Eagles, he did take Matthews and Agholor. Are you implying that just because Kelly knows wide receivers and Baalke doesn’t, that his ego wouldn’t allow him to listen?

              1. No. I am definitely willing to believe it was a collaborative effort. As opposed to Kelly picking him with no input from Baalke.

                Unlike a lot of others, I actually think Baalke does listen to what his HC wants. Yet if it doesn’t work out, it is always Baalke’s fault, and if it does work out, its all because the HC wanted the player. Basically, people that don’t like Baalke tend to be incredibly biased when it comes to credit/ blame.

              2. I like Baalke, but I have yet to see any evidence to suggest he has a clue when it comes to receivers….

              3. I used to like Baalke, but now it is more of a respect for many of his philosophies in building a team. I thought he was lucky to still have a job after last season – though how lucky comes down to who’s decision it really was to hire Tomsula.

                Regarding WRs, clearly he hasn’t done a good job finding young talent in the draft. The Jenkins pick will go down in infamy. Since then he’s not taken any WR higher than the 4th round, which makes it hard to find any great talents. He needs to be willing to draft a WR earlier than that.

              4. I originally thought that it was Kelly who had suggested Kerley be picked up. However, I distinctly remember Kelly giving Baalke and his team the credit for Kerley. I’ve searched Kelly’s last two pressers and now can’t seem to find where he said that.

              5. But cubus, how could Baalke possibly be at least partly responsible for bringing in Kerley? He’s Baalke, after all!

        2. Kelly specifically referenced Kerley’s experience with Modkins. Baalke alerted him that Kerley might be available, but he’s clearly a Kelly choice.

          1. Do you think Baalke goes to Kelly with every WR that is available? If not, isn’t it fair to say that Baalke identified a player of possible interest, and sought his HCs opinion?

            I just think this is another shining example of how once people form an opinion on Baalke’s areas of weaknesses then it becomes inconceivable he may deserve any credit for something in that regard.

            No doubt Baalke had nothing to do with trading for Boldin either. That was all Harbaugh, of course. No input from Baalke.

            1. Giving credit to Baalke for acquiring Boldin is like giving credit to President Obama for making the decision to kill Bin Laden….

              1. And yet 30 other teams didn’t make that trade. Just another example of not wanting to give Baalke any credit whatsoever.

              2. Scooter, the Boldin trade was John throwing Jim a bone for not raising a stink over the blatant favoritism the refs showed the Ravens.

                It was all Harbaugh, and Baalke was only peripherally involved.

              3. They didn’t? The way I heard it go down, was Johnny called Jim and gave him a heads up prior to Boldin going on the auction block….

        3. JC is simply throwing stuff at a wall and hoping something will stick. If the 49ers fired Baalke today, there would be 10-15 NFL teams that would move to lock him up immediately. I guarantee you that! That’s the kind of reputation Baalke has around NFL circles.

          As a fan, you have every right to your opinion JC, but you don’t get to make unsubstantiated claims and expect us to believe them. But if you want to ignore the perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances that occurred during the 2015 offseason, go right ahead and stick your head in the sand JC, it doesn’t change the facts. And it’s your right to watch this team and deny what your eyes are really telling you.

          I’m not going to recap but I am going to tell you this. The tragic 2015 offseason the 49ers endured, were not caused by Trent Baalke. Jed York simply could not work with Harbaugh. And the mass exodus of top end, veteran talent would have crippled most franchises for 1/2 decade or more, especially when you consider Harbaugh probably chose to keep the wrong QB when it came to trading Alex Smith. Yes, that was 100% on Jim Harbaugh, who also failed to win a Super Bowl while coaching the leagues most talented roster.

          Baalke is not perfect, but, as someone who has a bit of a pulse when it comes to the inner gears of the NFL, I’ll tell you this: Fire Baalke at your own peril. And, be careful what you ask for, because we’ve seen a dozen teams in this league, including the 49ers of the last decade, who simply cannot dig themselves out of their hole, thanks to poor management. I guarantee you things could, and probably would be worse, if the 49ers had a lot of other GM’s navigating this team through arguably the worse offseason in NFL history!

            1. Grant – It takes guts for someone who is only a reporter to stand up to “someone who has a bit of a pulse when it comes to the inner gears of the NFL.” I like your grit!

          1. He still looks like a Mexican jumping bean back there, still throws the football like a hot potato with that Baalke nature of his mechanics. I’d rather have a young quarterback that has shown an ability to develop….

            1. Sure, but you didn’t answer the question. Yes/ no on whether he is a pretty good backup QB?

              I think it would be a pretty harsh critic that says he hasn’t shown since last season that he can at least be competent at running an offense, and you can win games with him at the helm. Which is really what you are after in a backup QB. Finding such a player with a 6th round pick is pretty good value.

              1. Pretty good would be a stretch for me, more like adequate. Like I said, I’d rather have a quarterback that has shown he can develop….

              2. How many teams would you say have a better back up QB than Gabbert?

                Not sure, Scooter. I acknowledge your point, but the quality of quarterbacks coming out now is not what it used to be. Gabbert might be the best of the worst….

              3. I think teams have always struggled to find a good backup QB. Gabbert IMO is a good backup QB, but below average starting QB.

              4. How many teams would you say have a better back up QB than Gabbert?

                Patriots
                Vikings
                Broncos

              5. Not many, is it Mid? And of those you listed:

                – The Broncos backup has never taken an NFL snap. So who really knows how true that is.
                – The Vikings “backup” is a starter they traded for when their real starter got injured.
                – The Patriots backup has all of 1 career start to his name. So again, its hard to say with any real certainty he is better than Gabbert.

              6. Also, all of those guys were acquired by their current team with either a 1st or 2nd round pick. Not a 6th, like Gabbert. He’s a good value pickup.

              7. There is no evidence they are worse than Gabbert either Scooter. Getting Gabbert for a sixth round pick is not a good value considering he is a below average QB. …and Shaun Hill was the backup on the Vikings before the Bridgewater injury.

              8. So the absence of evidence is reason for you to predict they are better than Gabbert? Its an unknown. We have no real way of knowing at this point in time if Lynch will be better than Gabbert. Or Garoppolo for that matter. Saying they are better backups than Gabbert is pure speculation on your part.

                Are you suggesting Shaun Hill is better than Gabbert? That’s a stretch, but I guess if you are anti-Gabbert then it makes sense to go there. I can see an argument that Gabbert is no better than Hill, but not one that says Hill is better than Gabbert has been since he’s been a 49er.

                If you expect to be getting a good starting QB for a 6th round pick then you have very high standards indeed.

              9. I am not trying to be rude Scooter, but you asked the question and I simply gave my opinion. If you do not an opinion based on what one person sees or believes, then do not ask the question.

            2. With every post you can see Seb and Razor naw their teeth knowing Blaine Gabbert beat out their idol Colin Kaepernick. Its plain as dayas the bias is oozing out of every vowel!

              1. Kaepernick helped provide myself and my family with some great memories and fun as the 49ers quarterback. My idol was my late grandma….

              2. You are not having fun aboard the Blaine train? Hes young Razor, dont close the caboose just yet!

              3. Prime, a storm lashed the Carolinas, and another storm is coming.

                FYI, it has worked out just fine with me. Kaep did play last game, and he will play again.

                That is the difference between you and me. You are the one who is gnashing his teeth, dreading the fact that Gabbert may throw away his starting job, and Kaep will reclaim his old job that he lost due to injury.

                I am patient, and know that it is a long season full of attrition.

            3. Replying to my opinion and drawing a conclusion that the other person was not indicating are two different things Scooter, as you did with your follow up post.

              1. Where did I misrepresent what you were indicating? Did you not indicate you thought Lynch and Garoppolo are better than Gabbert? Did you not indicate you thought Hill is better than Gabbert? I thought that was the point of your original post?

        1. This a a whole lot of gabbert, gabbert jive turkey gobbler.

          We’ll learn a lot more of Gabbert over the next few weeks. If he continues to show incremental improvement every week, Niners could win 10 games with him. The big question is whether he will retain his confidence after a few sacks.

          1. Mood – As usual, we can count on you to provide level-headed input in the midst of another blog food fight.

    4. 49,

      I would like to go full Baalke with you, but I think you’re a bit over your skis on this one. Baalke hasn’t fully rebuilt the roster, unless you’re happy with the current QB and WR groups. I do think Baalke is way better than many on here believe, but he has his flaws, as well. One of the most glaring, is his seeming inability to get along with people. Not a fatal flaw for a scout, or maybe even for a director of player personnel, but as a GM with no buffer? Yikes, not good. The hire of Gamble gives some hope. Alternatively, if the 49ers could come up with someone better, I wouldn’t be against Baalke going, either.

      Also, his unwillingness to address WR and QB is frustrating. I’m in the camp that feels a team should systematically draft QB’s every two or three years, so there’s always a developmental QB in the pipeline. Two years ago, he could’ve used on higher pick on a WR. That wouldn’t guarantee success, but it would’ve improved their chances.

      As for the other position groups, while some are stronger than others, I feel like the rest of the team is good enough to contend for a playoff spot, but the current state of the QB and WR positions is an impediment to the team’s success. I’m not ruling out Kelly bringing both groups along, but right now, they don’t have enough, IMO.

      1. I actually think Chip’s QB philosophy fits right in line with Baalke’s philosophy. Apparently Chip frequently minimized the QB position in meetings with his coaches in Philly. He always spoke about the success of his offense at Oregon. His teams led the nation in scoring many times and he always did it without top level QB recruits. His focus was on speed and skill players with play making ability. The QB had his role but having a dynamic playmaker at QB wasn’t necessarily part of the deal. My personal opinion is Baalke got this draft to rebuild the line and the next draft will be all about speed and skill players. I don’t think the 9ers are going to put a huge priority in any of Chips years as coach on the QB position.

        1. Another nice post Houston. And is it a stretch to believe Baalke and Kelly might be a good pairing, when it comes to GM/HC synergy?

    5. i definitely agree!

      also, the wide receiver knock on Balke has to be mitigated somewhat by the injuries to Eric Rogers and Ellington – 2 who factored big this year.

    6. You’ve opened my eyes 49reasons. A fan post from Webzone is definitely the authority for what is really happening with this team. I don’t know how I could have been so blind. I’m going to have to rethink my entire life now that I have been enlightened.

  3. I expect after the team meal, the Panthers provide the 49ers with a serving of humble pie for dessert….

  4. Rams are not a viable test. Glad 9ers won, but seriously. Wait til 9ers face Cam to see how they play a real team. And watch what happens to the Rams when Russell and Seahawks get to them. Then we can all regroup with what will be real world data. Rams were not real data unfortunately.

    1. I’m afraid you won’t be able to draw too many conclusions after week 2. Traveling across country on 6 days rest to play a team whose had 10 days rest is one of the most unfair things I’ve seen schedule makers do in a long time. This schedule is insanely unfair to the 49ers. I’d say we can start to see how the 49ers stack up after around week 4. Many of the Power Rankings have the 49ers still around #29 even after beating a team by 28 points and pitching a shutout. Most of the experts still see the 49ers as a bad team. If they are 2-2 after week 4, I think you can legitimately say Chip is doing a good job.

  5. Baalke drafted Hyde, Trent Brown, mc Donald , Daniel Kilgore, Theus, Bell (good blocker),Patton (starting to flash), Garnett (wait & see), Mike Davis (looks better in pre), Burbridge (flashed on special teams Monday), Kaep–still on the team. If he is getting input from his HC and grabbing guys like Kurley and Streeter-I’m okay with that. After all Baalke was at his best when he listened to Harbaugh like with Bolden. And if Gabbert, Tiller, Tory Smith (bust for the $ so far) & Garrett Celek (ufa-over achiever) pan out its not that bad. I understand there are no “stud” receivers, or 1st round QB’s drafted, but I think Trent is okay as long as there is no Harbaugh type blowup.

  6. Baalke struck out on his Baalke knee picks. He whiffed on an entire draft class, and was no hit in the free agent market.

    Three strikes and you’re OUT.

    1. Tell that to Carradine, Reaser, and Jeremy Kerley, Seb. Yes, I included Kerley because we got him by trading Thoms, and ACL pick of Baalke’s.

      Look, you would hope to have a little more luck when it comes to the ACL picks. However, the idea that Baalke has got nothing at all out of his ACL picks, is simply untrue. And by the way, Jimmie Ward was injured when Baalke drafted him. How’s that working out?

      As for Redmond? For a guy only 10 months removed from ACL reconstruction, he looked like a keeper to me, during his limited play this preseason. Way, way, way to early to make any judgements on that pick!

      1. Baalke promised us that Redmond would be healed enough to play before TC. He was seen flexing his knee on the side lines, which showed that his knee bothered him. Maybe he was forced to play too soon because Baalke did not want to be wrong, but may have set back his rehab even farther.

        It still has taken Tank 3 years to get back, and he has minimally contributed during that time. Reaser is not even active. Kerley is healthy when they picked him up, so he is a stretch, especially since the coaches were his biggest boosters, not Baalke.

        1. Seb,

          It hasn’t taken TC three years to heal from his knee injury. It took three years for his knee to heal AND for the 49ers to realize they were trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole by making him a DT, instead of letting him be the edge player he is.

  7. True on the injury picks -can’t believe he did that in the 3rd round again (Redmond) this year. If you grab a injury risk it the 7th that’s one thing, but he does this crap too early–Smelter 5th, Thomas 3rd, Carridine -2nd, Lattimore-4th, Reaser 5th AJ Jenkins 1st-may as well have been disabled.

      1. Lol mood. Now if he started commenting on social topics instead of doing his job it might pull us back together.

    1. Yeah, Chip has gotten under Mac and Murph’s skin a couple of times. He’s entertaining in contrast the overtly strained and awkward nature of the duo’s morning interviews with Harbaugh.
      Next week Chip with on Tolbert’s evening show. They alternate the weekly interviews.

      1. Mood,

        Kelly was great with Tolbert and Lund, I’m looking forward to hearing the interview, especially if the 49ers lose (of course, I hope the 49ers beat the Panthers). I’m curious what Kelly’s mood will be.

        1. Maybe a little cooler and chippier, but probably will still make some pithy observation. He’s pretty even-keeled and consistent in his pressers.

  8. If everything we are hearing is true. Blaine needs to get with a mechanics coach and spend hours perfecting his footwork and throwing motion. It wont help so much this season but if he works on it continuously this season through the offseason he should start to see some serious benefits by next season.

    He has shown the ability to go through his progressions and make the correct read, he is a more than competent runner and appears to be a good leader, but simply is not consistent enough when delivering the mail.

    At 26, he is still fairly young and appears dedicated to his craft, so I would like to see him resurrect his career. However, body mechanics are very hard to relearn and it will take thousands of hours of extra practice on his part.

    1. What are you talking about? Blaine has good mechanics. One of the most befuddling things to me is how inaccurate he can be at times with such good mechanics.

      1. his footwork is terrible, he’s an arm thrower,feet are everywhere….this is all well documented. Listen to many experts on this, including Greg Cosell

        1. Well, I’ll have to listen to Cosell then. I respect his opinion as a knowledgeable and honest commentator. I haven’t heard him talk about Gabbert so I’ll try to check it out. I’m not a QB expert by any stretch but I’ve been around a lot of those guys so I take my knowledge from what they’ve taught my son about footwork. Gabbert looks to have good balance with proper alignment when he throws the ball. As Gabbert reads, he is basically chopping his feet in preparation for throwing the ball which is exactly what they teach young QBs. You don’t want to stand stationary as it actually takes longer to set up the throw when your feet are still. Going from Kaepernick, who in my opinion has the worst footwork in the NFL, to someone like Gabbert has been very nice to see in my opinion. I’ll look up Cosell’s commentary and she what he has to say.

          1. Houston, I agree. Gabbert had decent mechanics, but still was inaccurate. He was not throwing off his back foot while back peddling. He was stepping into the throw.

            However, Gabbert did seem hurried and the throws looked frenetic. Montana threw, and hit his receivers on target and in stride. Joe Cool threw effortlessly, and to me, it was poetry in motion.

        2. So I read Cosell. He does not say Gabberts “footwork is terrible, he’s an arm thrower,feet are everywhere.” He says Gabbert rushes and doesn’t get his feet set when throwing causing inaccuracy. I can totally buy that. Gabbert’s balance and foot alignment on his throws is very good. He’s simply not finishing the set prior to releasing the ball. I can totally buy that. That’s not to say Gabbert has terrible footwork. He simply needs to come set prior to the throw and slow himself down a bit. Prior to this season here’s what Cosell said about the 49ers QB competition:

          On if he would rather have Blaine Gabbert or Colin Kaepernick in Chip Kelly’s offense:

          Well, I think Gabbert’s skill set better lends itself to it because first of all, I think he’s a better functional mover than Colin Kaepernick. Colin Kaepernick is much faster in a straight line, I think Blaine Gabbert is a better functional mover. Secondly, it’s really a short passing style offense, not a lot of deep throws, and I think Gabbert throws with more natural touch and pace. Kaepernick is a power thrower who struggles with pace and touch throws. So I think Gabbert’s skill set fits better in Chip Kelly’s offense than Kaepernick’s.

          1. Quote from Grant’s article on his inconsistant arm slot, and one of the reasons for this…

            “he almost never aligns his lower body with his target. This is his biggest sin. This is where arm slot becomes relevant.”

          2. Houston

            Thank you for the real ‘read’ on Cosell’s piece….a breath of fresh air in a world of speculation and bull$hid. Seb, Max, Razor, and several others are stuck on the “second coming of Kaep…” which of course isn’t coming…the 7torm they anticipated blew out in the desert and faded into a dust devil somewhere west of Bakersfield.. Gabbert IS the real thing…and ‘Chip’ knows it. Kaepernick had his time in the sun, and now the best thing that can happen is to trade him. and maybe get back some of the value he has cost.

        1. Houston,

          I will not disagree necessarily disagree with how he bounces in the pocket, but to often when he sees who he is throwing to he doesn’t take the time to properly set himself so his feet are not pointed correctly

          * to clarify further *

          Young,
          in an interview on KNBR, stated when he didn’t rush himself and took the time to set himself he threw the ball well but often rushed his throws… this is something that was also noted by Cossell.

          Grant,
          also noted his inconsistent arm slot which can easily be caused by not setting up properly.

  9. Can you compare helmets from like high school, college, pro, like how you felt when you wear them–?

    “A helmet’s a helmet. You’ve got an air bladder in there that they put air in and it’s supposed to protect your head I guess.”

    That is one of the best John Madden answers I’ve ever heard. Way to go Blaine.

    1. The crux of the brain injury issue is the sudden stop. Helmet design can’t mitigate the effects of cranial tissue slamming against the inside the skull. If the player is moving at 20mph, then his brain is moving at 20mph, until the player is stopped and momentum of a soft material suspended in fluid sloshes against the skull, rebounds, and sometimes slams against the other side of the skull. I have yet to read of any technological designs to address that.
      $100,000.00 won’t change that. Advancements in sideline assessments, early early detection and treatments might be helped by the league’s initiatives.

  10. Goodell has announced spending 100 million dollars to make the game safer, and help in studying the effects and reducing the impacts of concussions. Good for him.

    Too bad they say they want to make the game safer, but still schedule Thursday Night Football, which will force players to play with only 3 days rest.

    The league should use some one smart enough to schedule games so that they use the bye, and schedule 2 games within 3 weeks. It would give the team 10 days rest in between games, if the middle game is played on Thursday.

    The league should consider dropping one preseason game. and use that week as another bye week during the season, which would facilitate and make it easier to schedule 2 games within 3 weeks with a Thursday Night Game.

    1. Common Seb,
      you know this is all lip service. That would actually help players.
      Also you will notice that few rules are being implemented for the safety or OL, DL, RB’s and LB’s but God forbid that some qb ever be hit outside of the chest to belt strike zone.

  11. I would beg to differ on Seb’s fabric logic.

    He believes a storm is coming, so Kap will wear a stormy Plaid fabric.

    Gabby will claim that Kap’s fabric is hard on the eyes, distracting to the team and go with the Ice-Blue Leisure suit.

  12. Talk about clickbait… the lead in to this article says… “Some 49ers grumbling about Colin Kaepernick taking spotlight”, and yet the article provides nothing to show that. NOTHING.

    What s bunch of b s.

  13. I am so tired of the Baalky and CK stuff. Can we once quite talking about that and focuse on football.

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