DENVER -- After a week spent practicing and playing against the defending world champion Denver Broncos, the San Francisco 49ers are officially halfway through the preseason.

The Niners are done with the joint practices and they will transition this week to something closer to regular-season mode when they close practices to the media and prepare for Friday's third preseason game with the Green Bay Packers. For better or worse, by the end of the week, the 49ers should have a much better idea of who their starting quarterback will be for the opener against the Los Angeles Rams.

To this point, the quarterback competition that has carried the conversation for this preseason has mostly fizzled.

This battle has been defined more by Gabbert's steady if unspectacular performances and Kaepernick's sore right shoulder. Gabbert hasn't done much to win the job but he certainly hasn't done much to lose it, either. Kaepernick hasn't been healthy enough to make much of an impact one way or the other.

Colin Kaepernick made more than 50 passes ranging from 15 to 55 yards before Saturday's preseason game with the Broncos. AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

So here's where things stand as we head into a week that should prove pivotal in finally rendering a decision:

Gabbert is comfortable in coach Chip Kelly's offense and it's starting to show: Gabbert and Kaepernick started camp by splitting reps evenly in the first week-plus of practice. But Kaepernick's tight shoulder took him out of the mix on Aug. 10. That's left Gabbert taking almost all of the reps with the starters, something he did back in the spring when Kaepernick was still recovering from shoulder, thumb and knee surgeries.

Gabbert has had a lot more reps than Kaepernick and his knowledge of and confidence in Kelly's scheme only continues to grow. Gabbert was 6-of-9 for 69 yards against the Broncos and looked more relaxed steering the offense on Saturday than he did last week against Houston.

"It goes back to the repetitions," Gabbert said. "I try to take advantage, especially this week, going against a great team in Denver. Just make the most out of each opportunity I have to go out there. It definitely carried over into the game."

Kaepernick is on schedule to return to practice this week: At this point, it's fair to assume Kaepernick is going to need to play and play well over the final two weeks of the exhibition season to have the chance to overtake Gabbert. Whether he can do that remains to be seen but he looks like he's at least moving closer to having the chance.

Kaepernick did some light throwing on the side in Wednesday and Thursday practices but he ramped it up in a pregame throwing session Saturday night. He threw for about 30 minutes and tossed more than 50 passes ranging from 15 to 55 yards. The Niners are aiming to have Kaepernick back in practice this week so he can get some snaps against the Packers.

"I think he's gotten better and better each day," Kelly said. "And we'll just see. The biggest thing is how he responds, in terms of if there are any residual effects when he wakes up in the morning. I think he's progressing, and we have a logical plan in place."

Gabbert is earning credit by taking care of the ball and making good decisions: On the laundry list of things Kelly wants from his starter, accuracy and decision making sit at the top. Gabbert is 10-of-19 in the first two preseason games and his accuracy has been spotty at times, but he's definitely making good decisions in the eyes of Kelly. Gabbert has yet to take a sack and he also hasn't thrown an interception in either game.

Coincidentally, it was a pair of third downs the 49ers failed to convert against the Broncos that Kelly offered as evidence of Gabbert's wisdom.

"I thought Blaine did a nice of getting the ball where it needed to be," Kelly said Saturday night. "They brought a little bit of pressure early and at least he got rid of it and didn't take the sack. I thought he put the ball where it needed to be, so he did a good job of managing his snaps when he was in there."

On the 49ers' first possession, Gabbert threw the ball away on third down rather than taking a sack with running back Carlos Hyde in the area to avoid a penalty. On the next sequence, Gabbert threw short and to the right of tight end Garrett Celek on third-and-7. Celek couldn't break the tackle and came up 2 yards short.

The chains didn't move but at least the 49ers were able to get a punt away and not lose field position in the process.

"That's part of being a smart quarterback," Kelly said. "There's sometimes that the play that's called isn't going to get it. You're hoping that the guy catches it and breaks a tackle. But there's other guys that hold onto the ball and just sit there and say, 'No one was really open,' and they take a sack. And now we're in a worse situation. We have a good punter. Sometimes if it's third-and-14, you might not get 14, but if we can get half of that and (punter) Bradley (Pinion) can kick it a little farther, you can spin the field a little bit."

There's still no timetable for an announcement but it shouldn't be far off: It seems unlikely that either Jeff Driskel or Christian Ponder would be considered at this stage, but it's hard to imagine that if Kaepernick has a setback this week he'd be able to surpass Gabbert in the final week of the preseason. If nothing else, the next five days should help bring everything into focus.