The Chip Kelly era in San Francisco is off to a fascinating start, as far as Colin Kaepernick is concerned.
After the obligatory disclaimer that Kaepernick's status with the 49ers is the coach's call, owner Jed York all but went all-in with the embattled quarterback, according to CSNBayArea.com, contrary to Kelly's initial marks about the signal caller.
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York appeared on the "Rich Eisen Show" and talked reverently of his quarterback, even though Kaepernick has regressed to the point of getting benched at the halfway mark of the 2015 season.
"And we've all seen what Colin can do," York told Eisen via CSN Bay Area. "Taking us to a Super Bowl, an NFC Championship Game the year after. He's had a great career here. Obviously last year wasn't a great year for any of us in red and gold.
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"And I think Chip is going to be a great addition, not just for Kap, but for the rest of the team. I'm excited to see where it goes."
Asked whether he believes Kaepernick can win back the starting job, York didn't exactly speak with quarterback Blaine Gabbert's feelings in mind. Gabbert started the last eight games for the 49ers last season.
"There's no question in my mind," York replied. "I've always had a very, very high opinion of Kap. Kap's a great kid, he's done a lot of great things for us. And again, this is a fresh start for everybody."
Well it was for Kelly, who had refused to speculate on how Kaepernick would fit into his offense, until York's comments.
"I'm not allowed to comment about [Kaepernick] in terms of how he fits into any system because of the CBA rules of we're not allowed to discuss football, I'm not allowed to say who fits where and how they fit," Kelly said, according to Pro Football Talk, which refuted whether his statement was true. "So I'm gonna wait until April 4 to discuss Kap and the offense."
Now there's a certain pressure on Kelly to get Kaepernick fixed in order to return to the 49ers' glory days under former coach Jim Harbaugh.
"I'm not going to decide who the starting quarterback is. That's our coach, and then the staff," York told Eisen on Thursday. "But I think the nice thing is we have the third-most salary cap room in the league, and everybody wants to make a big issue of, 'Well, you need to make a decision on Colin.' Etcetera, etcetera. We want Colin to get back healthy as soon as possible. We want to make sure that he's able to take the field whenever he's available."
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