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JOHNFROSCHAUER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Dylan Thompson, le and Blaine Gabbert warm up before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. ByJanieMccauley TheAssociatedPress SANTA CLARA Dylan Thomp- son has spent the majority of his rookie season as the scout team quarterback, posing as Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer or Rus- sell Wilson in practice to prepare the starting defense. Until this week. Now, his job is changing. In one whirlwind weekend, Thompson went from practice squad to active roster and backup to San Francisco starter Blaine Gabbert. Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback who led the Niners to a Super Bowl just three sea- sons ago, injured his non-throw- ing left shoulder and underwent surgery Tuesday — and his time with the franchise could be over. Thompsonsuitedupforhisfirst NFL game during Sunday's 29-13 loss at Seattle. He has to be ready for anything, because he is the next one up if Gabbert goes down. "He showed up mature. He's got a maturity about him," coach Jim Tomsula said Wednesday. "He's still a rookie, and he's learn- ing. Every time you see the pla- teaus, you see him fight through them and then you see him get better. We're thrilled with the way he's approached things, the way he's worked." Even on the sidelines now, Thompson is more active because he must be a sounding board for Gabbert whenever needed or if asked about something he might be seeing on the field from his perspective. "It was awesome. It really is," Thompson said. "Just to know you work and you keep telling yourself your time will come if you just keep working and pre- paring. You never want it to be due to an injury or anything like that but when the opportunity's there for you to be able to move up, and in this case dress, it's a good thing for you personally." 49ERS RookieQBpreparingforanything Thompson gets himself ready in case he needs to take over By John Hickey Bay Area News Group OAKLAND The A's acquisition of infielderJedLowrieWednesdayal- most certainly means the club will trade one of its two third basemen, Danny Valencia or Brett Lawrie, before too much time has passed. The A's are overloaded in the infield with the addition of Low- rie, who played for Oakland in 2013-14 before signing a three- year, $23 million deal with the Astros in free agency last winter. Manager Bob Melvin said the team will "have to see where he fits in," but Lowrie doesn't have the range to play shortstop any- more and was mostly a third base- man in Houston after the arrival of Rookie of the Year shortstop Carlos Correa. The A's turned to Marcus Semien in 2015 to play, and while he led the league in er- rors, he improved from start to finish and his range was more to- ward the A's liking. General manager David Forst, asked about Semien's position with the team, he replied simply "shortstop." BASEBALL A's bring back shortstop Lowrie By Jimmy Durkin Bay Area News Group ALAMEDA Amari Cooper is hard on himself and he's as unhappy as anybody that he ranks among the league leaders in dropped passes. "Anytime you have multiple drops, it's a big deal," Cooper said Wednesday, his first time speak- ing to the media since catching just one pass for four yards in Sunday's loss at Detroit. "When you're a receiver, you're supposed to catch the ball," Coo- per said. "You just have to go back to the drawing board, eliminate the drops and move forward." The Raiders offense has hit a lull as a whole, averaging just 13.5 points the past two games after looking explosive through most of the first eight outings. Cooper sees the Raiders having opportunities, but they just aren't taking advantage. "I feel like there's plays to be made. We're just not making them," Cooper said. He also doesn't see this as an is- sue of defenses doing anything ex- traordinary. The Raiders are the ones not making plays and that makes it more easily correctable. "If you're not making plays be- cause of the defense, that means the players on your team aren't capable of actually making those plays," Cooper said. RAIDERS Co op er : Dr op s are 'a big deal' By Janie McCauley The Associated Press OAKLAND Even though he hasn't been in his usual spot on the bench, ailing coach Steve Kerr has contributed plenty to Golden State's record start. On Tuesday night, his defend- ing champion Warriors routed the Los Angeles Lakers 111-77 to become the first team in NBA history to begin a season 16- 0. Hours earlier, Kerr offered his thoughts — then spent the game behind the scenes still re- covering from a pair of back op- erations as interim coach Luke Walton led the squad to its lat- est win. It hasn't been easy to be away as he heals. Kerr's message fo- cused on Golden State's core val- ues: Joy. Mindfulness. Compas- sion. Competition. "He just reminded everybody, he put them up on the white board before we started shoot- around and he reminded the guys what those values were," Walton said. "He emphasized to them how proud he was watch- ing them, because we're hitting all four of those values. The first one and the most important one is probably joy. He wants us hav- ing fun. It's a long season, this game's meant to be fun. "When we hit those four things we're not only very tough to beat, but we're very fun to watch, we're very fun to coach, we're very fun to be around, and he just told the guys how happy he was that they're continuing to do those things." And there's no doubt these Dubs are the league's most en- tertaining team, having plenty of fun as they chase far more than this sizzling start in No- vember. Kerr challenged this group to take it to another level this season and not settle for be- ing the champs, acknowledg- ing the Warriors will get every- body's best shot in every city and at home. Golden State took that to heart, determined to show that last season was no fluke for a championship-starved fran- chise that captured its first NBA crown in 40 years. "It's boggling my mind what this whole team does," said for- mer Warriors star Jason Rich- ardson, who happened to be honored on the record-setting evening. "You always wanted for this organization to be in this position." For Kerr, mindfulness means not relying on just talent to outdo an opponent or focusing on individual marks. Compas- sion is for each other and the game of basketball. "Coach has been great, even behind the scenes. You can tell Luke is kind of an extension from him," guard Klay Thomp- son said. NBA WARRIORS LOOK FOR EVEN MORE Oakland shooting for the stars a er making NBA history with 16-0 start PHOTOS BY JEFF CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell (1) dribbles past Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston during the first half of a game in Oakland on Tuesday. Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut, top, dunks against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half in Oakland on Tuesday. 49ERS PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 Valencia or Lawrie likely to be traded A'S PAGE 2 RAIDERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, November 26, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1