The 49ers' downward spiral has been constant, and revved up a notch when head coach Jim Tomsula benched Colin Kaepernick in favor Blaine Gabbert.

Pro Football Hall of Fame safety and 49ers legend Ronnie Lott has a problem with that.

"Is this a surrender right now? What are we doing?" Lott questioned in an interview with KNBR. "I'm just trying to understand. In my mind, I think I know the game, you think you understand the game—I'm kind of lost at this moment."

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The 49ers are 2-6 through the first eight games of the season, and a quarterback switch does not inspire much confidence.

"Where are we going? What bus are we catching? And if we're catching the bus to go where. I'd like to know what direction we're going," Lott demanded. "It's hard to even comment on where we're going.

"I hope, for Tomsula, that's what I'm hoping, give me some direction. Give me some focus. Give me something, where all of sudden, as a fan, as a person who can see the path in where you're trying to take us. For him, for his sake, I hope he's able to kind of give us that. And give everybody that moment of saying, 'I get it.' But when I saw this with Kap, this system, there's a lot of things new.

"There's a lot of things we're all trying to grasp. For me, I don't think that this offense, from what I understand, is the same offense. They got a new offensive coordinator. A lot of things that are different. Everyone's doing a lot of new stuff.

"To me, you've got to have direction in life. You've got to have direction."

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Lott expressed his displeasure in the direction of the team, and was then asked outright if he advocated the benching of Kaepernick.

"There were games I didn't make interceptions. Are you going to bench me?" Lott laughed. "You earn the right to get there. When you have moments like he's having, and going what he's going through...do you bench [Stephen] Curry when gets in a slump? Think of Timmy [Lincecum]."

"You find yourself working through it...I'm not an advocate for—the benching thing is just different. Especially now, it's different for me when I see those types of things. I guess I'm from a different camp, so it's hard for me to understand."