Who Will Back Up San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick?


Colt McCoy and Scott Tolzien

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers already know who their starting quarterback will be at the start of the season and the foreseeable future. An important question is who will be the second-string quarterback. Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy would be the obvious choice, given that he was an effective starter at one point.

During this week’s preseason game against the Denver Broncos, McCoy suffered an injury to his right throwing shoulder. He stayed in the game after being injured on a broken play and preceded to throw an interception. McCoy admits that he stayed in the game longer than he should have.

The results of his limited time on the field were 3-of-7 passing for 41 yards with an interception. He will have an MRI as a precautionary measure before resuming workouts. It is speculated that he suffered a “stinger.”

Third-year player Scott Tolzien became the signal caller for the rest of the game and had a decent performance, but it is a preseason game after all. He finished 15-of-26 for 158 yards with one interception. Rookie B.J. Daniels did not even play in this game.

If McCoy’s injury is minor and he can continue to practice and be effective, he should be the backup to starter Colin Kaepernick. However, if McCoy cannot get healthy and/or he does not perform better than he did against the Broncos, then Tolzien will be the backup in all likelihood, and McCoy will be the no. 3 option at quarterback.

John Ware is a San Francisco 49ers writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @OutermindMedia, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+


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