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Colin Kaepernick benched at snowy Soldier Field, replaced by Blaine Gabbert

The San Francisco 49ers benched quarterback Colin Kaepernick early in the fourth quarter of their 26-6 defeat on Sunday against the Chicago Bears. News that surfaced before the game makes his future with the team very much unknown at this point.

Kaepernick struggled early against the Bears, completing his first pass of the game midway through the second quarter. It would stand as his only completion before being yanked for backup QB Blaine Gabbert. Kaepernick’s final passing line: 1-for-5 passing, 4 yards, five sacks taken, 20 yards rushing (on six carries).

And that was historically bad in at least one respect:

The Bears led 24-6 when Kaepernick was benched.

Colin Kaepernick was benched in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears.
Colin Kaepernick was benched in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears. (AP)

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported before kickoff that Kaepernick was expected to opt out of his contract at season’s end. There’s still a chance Kaepernick returns as the team’s starting quarterback in 2017, but he might want to test the market as a free agent first.

Does Chip Kelly want Kaepernick back? Was he protecting his QB by pulling him out of a snowy blowout? We might not know these answers for some time. But the 49ers’ QB situation is very much unknown with the emerging Kaepernick seemingly taking a step backward in the 49ers’ loss at Chicago.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!