By: Joe Lami

AP photo: Seen here against the Houston Texans San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly with his assistant coaches behind him are preparing at Levis Stadium for Saturday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers

The all-important third pre-season game of the 2016 season is upon us for the San Francisco 49ers. The most important game so far for Chip Kelly has San Francisco hosting the Green Bay Packers. It will be the first real test to see how good the somewhat impressive defensive will be against Aaron Rogers.

However, even with the real test on the field, all eyes will be on the quarterback battle, as Colin Kaepernick is expected to see his first action of the fall. Friday night is starting to feel like a make or break moment in the career of Kaepernick as he is getting yet another chance with a new coach after GM Trent Balke was unsuccessful in trading him away in the offseason.

Kaepernick now joins the ranks of Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder in the quarterback battle. Yet, Kaepernick isn’t too far behind either one of them, as Gabbert has really failed to impress anyone, especially on opening drives. Ponder impressed us with his great fourth quarter against Denver’s third-string defense with only a few days of studying the playbook, but isn’t expected to get a spot on the team.

Nobody has locked up the job quite yet, which makes Friday so important. Earlier in the week, Kaepernick returned to practice to pretty good reviews from his teammates saying they have to get used to his arm again.

Kelly’s two biggest characteristics in a quarterback that he’s looking for are decision making and accuracy, something that Kaepernick has always struggled with. The quarterback competition is just getting started in San Francisco.