Blaine Gabbert on Colin Kaepernick’s role on the 49ers: “He’s just rehabbing right now.”

SANTA CLARA Blaine Gabbert just spoke in the 49ers auditorium. Here are selected quotes. Q: What is your plan for the offseason? GABBERT: Just the usual routine. You definitely take a little breather time. You let your body heal, let your mind heal and kind of recuperate a little bit. But, I’m eager to get back into it. I feel like there’s something we can build on here. I’m definitely…

December 30, 2015
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Jim Tomsula on Blaine Gabbert: “He’s got a nice personality.”

SANTA CLARA Here is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department,   Opening comments: “The injury report, again guys are still coming in, but [LB Aaron] Lynch and [TE Vance] McDonald are both in the concussion protocol. [LB Michael] Wilhoite is getting an MRI on his ankle today. [LB NaVorro] Bowman, as of right now, looks like everything is really well. He went through…

December 7, 2015
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49ers fans should wish for a Bears victory

This is my Sunday column. Twelve reasons to root for the Bears Sunday if you’re a 49ers fan: Reason No. 1. The Niners front office may start thinking Blaine Gabbert is the franchise quarterback if he beats Chicago, and may decide against taking a quarterback in the first few rounds of the upcoming draft. This is very bad thinking. See reason No. 2. Reason No. 2. Gabbert is not the…

December 5, 2015
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Blaine Gabbert on his third-down struggles against the Cardinals: “I think we were executing.”

SANTA CLARA This is the transcript of Blaine Gabbert’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department.   When you just start studying for the Bears, what kind of leaps out at you about their style of defense? “They’re a sound defense. Schematically, they’re on it. They don’t make a lot of errors. Their guys are in the right spots. So, it puts it on the quarterback and the…

December 2, 2015
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Jim Tomsula: “Maybe we need to sprint off the bus.”

SANTA CLARA This  is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department.   Opening comments: “The injury report; what we’ve got here, we’ve got some bumps and bruises, but [TE Garrett] Celek is going for an MRI. But again, we still feel like nothing is broke, that it’s what our people have categorized a high ankle sprain. And obviously with those we’ll have to…

November 30, 2015
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Jim Tomsula says Blaine Gabbert’s conservative approach on third down is “absolutely not OK.”

SANTA CLARA Here’s what Jim Tomsula said about Blaine Gabbert Monday morning. Q: Blaine Gabbert has 16 third-down completions, but only six have gone for first downs. Is that OK? Would you like to see a more aggressive approach? TOMSULA: “Absolutely not OK. We need to get first downs on third down. So, we’ve got to do a better job there.” Q: You’d like to see him throw beyond the…

November 30, 2015
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Stakes high for Gabbert in 49ers’ meaningless games

This is my Sunday column. It’s audition time for Blaine Gabbert. While most of the 49ers have nothing left to play for but professional pride, Gabbert gets to play for the 49ers’ starting-quarterback job in 2016. For him the stakes are high, and yet the pressure is low. I’ll explain. For the first time in his NFL career, Gabbert is playing relaxed. There’s no pressure on him to be great,…

November 28, 2015
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Tyrann Mathieu: “You can see Gabbert’s maturity and the different things he does well that, let’s say, Kaepernick doesn’t do well.”

SANTA CLARA Arizona Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu spoke with Bay Area reporters on a conference call Wednesday afternoon. Here are selected quotes. Q: Does the 49ers’ offense look different now that Blaine Gabbert is running it? MATHIEU: Yeah, it does. Not to take anything away from Kaepernick, but it seems like Gabbert has a little bit better grip on what’s going on. If he gets in a situation, he knows…

November 25, 2015
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Blaine Gabbert: “I know where I want to go with the football.”

SANTA CLARA This is the transcript of Blaine Gabbert’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. When you look back at the film of Sunday, what’d you think of how well you played? “I think the biggest thing that stood out was we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities in the red zone. I think we were second-and-five on the five, first-and-five on the five and took a…

November 25, 2015
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49ers 13, Seahawks 29: Grades

SEATTLE Here are the grades for the San Francisco 49ers’ 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. GABBERT: B. Played better than he did during his first start for the Niners two weeks ago against the Atlanta Falcons. This week, Gabbert faced a top Seahawks defense, threw for 264 yards and a touchdown while making no major mistakes and getting sacked only twice even though he had no running game. RUNNING…

November 22, 2015
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Geep Chryst says Blaine Gabbert is starting to find his style of play

SANTA CLARA This is the transcript of Geep Chryst’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Alright, coming off the bye which is always refreshing for us as coaches, but a nice opponent in Seattle up there. We can talk about the game in Atlanta, but we are definitely moving onto Seattle and looking forward to it.”   Has G Andrew Tiller done enough to earn…

November 19, 2015
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Blaine Gabbert: “You just can’t press and try and force guys the ball.”

SANTA CLARA This is the transcript of Blaine Gabbert’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. What did you do over the bye week? “I actually got a chance to go back to St. Louis. Hang out with the family a little bit. I got to see my little brother’s state semi-final game, so that was pretty fun.”   How did he do? “He’s a freshman so he’s…

November 18, 2015
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Jim Tomsula: “We’re moving forward with Blaine.”

SANTA CLARA Here is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Good morning. The injury report here; [LB Aaron] Lynch, [CB Marcus] Cromartie, [DB Jimmie] Ward, [CB Keith] Reaser, they’ll all be full go. We’re in great shape there. [CB Kenneth] Acker will be go. He’s finished up and finishing up, but we expect him to be on this week. As…

November 16, 2015
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49ers’ salvage plan probably far too late to matter

This is my Friday column. The San Francisco 49ers hit the iceberg weeks ago. So, why are they benching Colin Kaepernick now? What does this move say about the mindset of the franchise? We’re looking at two issues here: the Jim-Tomsula issue, and the Jed-York-Trent-Baalke-dynamic-duo issue. Although the issues are similar. Let’s deal with the Tomsula issue first. Tomsula is desperate. He realizes he’s in over his head, and probably…

November 5, 2015
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Report: 49ers bench Colin Kaepernick

The 49ers have benched Colin Kaepernick and named Blaine Gabbert the starting quarterback, according to Kyle McLorg of thebayareasportsguy.com. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirmed the news via Twitter. Benching Kaepernick practically guarantees the Niners will cut him at the end of the season. Do you think he ever will start another game in the NFL? And who do you think will be the 49ers’ starting quarterback next season? Gabbert?

November 2, 2015
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Geep Chryst on Vernon Davis: “Reward the big man for running the floor.”

SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of offensive coordinator Geep Chryst’s Friday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “It’s great to be here. Week 1 of the regular season, there’s a lot of juice throughout the league and in our locker room. But, can’t wait to play Monday night. That’s about all I have to say, but I know you probably have some questions.”  …

September 11, 2015
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Jim Tomsula: “We need the practice time instead of going out there today.”

SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s post-game press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Hello, good evening. Well there’s a wrap for the preseason. I thought the young guys represented themselves well. I thought they played hard and physical. I thought both teams did. There were still a few penalties. We do a good job turning second down into first down but we’ve…

September 4, 2015
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Colin Kaepernick needs to pick up the pace

This is my Thursday column. This is not a criticism of Colin Kaepernick. Yes, he has completed only five passes so far in the preseason. No, he hasn’t played well. But just about every time he drops back to pass he gets swarmed. The offensive line has been bad. The Niners have tried three different players at right guard already and there’s still more than a week before the regular…

September 2, 2015
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Colin Kaepernick’s understudy

Who will be the 49ers’ backup quarterback next season? Probably not Blaine Gabbert or Josh Johnson, a couple of free-agent retreads the 49ers should not re-sign. The Niners need to find a quarterback worth developing, a quarterback with a future. I count five quarterbacks who fit that description in the upcoming draft: Tier 1: Marcus Mariota. A dual-threat quarterback who is quicker and faster than Kaepernick. Tier 2: Jameis Winston….

February 27, 2015
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49ers face key decisions in free agency

This is my Sunday column. Is it too early to predict which free agents the 49ers will re-sign this offseason? The 49ers still haven’t announced the hiring of Eric Mangini as the defensive coordinator or Geep Chryst as the offensive coordinator, and we still don’t know what schemes they plan on using. On defense will they use a Tampa-2 scheme or a single-high safety scheme, a three-man defensive front or…

February 7, 2015
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