SANTA CLARA, Calif. _ Despite completing just one pass for four yards against the Chicago Bears and getting benched in the second half, Colin Kaepernick will be the starting quarterback when the 49ers host the New York Jets on Sunday.
Although head coach Chip Kelly is still in Maine following the death of his father, 49ers offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins confirmed Tuesday that the club had decided on its quarterback, and that Kaepernick never really lost his starting spot even though he was replaced by Blaine Gabbert against the Bears.
"Kap's going to start and we'll go from there," Modkins said. "We just decided during the game to try and see if Blaine could give us a spark. But Kap's still the starter."
Modkins said the offense had been trending in the right direction before the Bears and that Kaepernick had been one of the biggest reasons for that before his setback at wet, snowy Soldier Field. Kaepernick completed just 1 of 5 attempts and was sacked five times. In relief, Gabbert completed just 4 of 10 passes for 35 yards.
Kaepernick said he was told Tuesday morning that he would be the starter against the Jets. Up until then, he wasn't sure how it was going to go.
"After the game, that was something I don't know if anybody really knew," he said. "For me, I wanted to make sure regardless I'm coming in and preparing to make sure I'm ready to go on Sunday."
Asked several times during a five-minute media session what went so horribly wrong with his play in the poor conditions against the Bears, Kaepernick avoided specifics.
"It's hard to say it was one thing," he said. "We just weren't up to par on that day. We have to be able to perform better regardless of the conditions or anything like that. We have to do a better job."
Kaepernick refused to use a seeming inability to grip a wet football as one of the biggest reasons for his poor performance.
"It may have been a factor, but you have to be able to handle the elements," he said. "That's part of football, that's what we get paid to do, and we have to do a better job with that."
The quarterback sounded intent to pick up where he left off in the Miami game prior to the Chicago debacle, when he passed for 296 yards and ran for 113 more in a 31-24 defeat.
"Sunday was a setback," he said. "We have to get back on track this week. We have to put that work in, make sure everybody's prepared, make sure the mindset's right."
The 49ers will be playing a Jets team that reportedly had interest in Kaepernick during this past offseason after he received permission to try to engineer his own trade from San Francisco. He said that's all in the past, and that he's not thinking about any off-field agendas right now.
"What my focus is right now is getting ready for the New York Jets this week," Kaepernick said. There are no conversations with other teams, anything like that. Right now, I'm part of the 49ers and my focus is helping my teammates get a win."
