DENVER -- Colin Kaepernick's 2016 preseason debut will have to wait another week.

The San Francisco 49ers sixth-year quarterback was one of six players who will not play in Sunday night's preseason road game against the Denver Broncos.

Keep it locked here throughout the night for updates from Mile High Stadium, including stats, scoring drives and key observations.

Pregame

Joining Kaepernick on the sideline will be wide receivers Bruce Ellington and DeAndre Smelter and defensive linemen Glenn Dorsey, Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner.

Ellington and Smelter are working through lower-body injuries. Dorsey, on the other hand, is still rehabbing last season's ACL tear. He has yet to take part in group and team periods in training camp. Lastly, Armstead was limited in practice this week with an upper-body injury. The reason for Buckner not playing is not yet known.

The Broncos announced that wide receiver Bennie Fowler, cornerback Aqib Talib, safety Ryan Murphy, cornerback Taurean Nixon, offensive lineman Ty Sambrailo, tight end Garrett Graham and outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware will not participate in the game.

Trevor Siemian will start at quarterback. Bradley Roby will replace Talib in the starting lineup and Shane Ray will line up in place of Ware.

Stay tuned for more updates from Denver.First Quarter

The 49ers won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. NaVorro Bowman and co. took the field first. Gerald Hodges joined Bowman as the team's starting inside 'backers. The 49ers opened in nickel with Chris Davis covering the slot. Tony Jerod-Eddie replaced Buckner in the starting lineup. Rookie Ronald Blair III saw a lot of snaps on the opening drive, too.

Davis broke up Siemian's second pass of the game, a short throw intended for Jordan Norwood. Siemian later connected on a 17-yard gain with tight end Virgil Green to get his team to Denver's 42-yard line.

The 49ers defense appeared to make an impact play, but Bowman's second-down sack was negated by a defensive holding penalty on defensive back Jimmie Ward.

Soon after, Broncos running back C.J. Anderson scored on a 19-yard run to give the home team an early 7-0 lead.

The 10-play, 86-yard scoring drive took 5:14 and gave Denver a 7-0 lead with 9:46 left in the quarter.
With Ellington inactive, Davis had the first crack to return kicks. Davis returned the ball out to the 17-yard line. The 49ers opened the game with Andrew Tiller and Trent Brown at right guard and right tackle, respectively. San Francisco also began with a three-receiver set (Torrey Smith, Quinton Patton and DeAndrew White in the slot).

San Francisco went three-and-out on its opening drive. Gabbert was flushed out of the pocket on third down and threw the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack.

Following a Bradley Pinion punt, Denver got the ball back at its own 35-yard line. Ray-Ray Armstrong entered the game on the second drive to play beside Bowman. Denver picked up a first down but was forced to punt at midfield.

San Francisco rookie wideout Bryce Treggs was back to return the punt, but he decided not to field it. Denver downed the ball at San Francisco's 9-yard line with 4:48 to play in the opening quarter.

Gabbert found tight end Garrett Celek for a 9-yard gain on first down. Pierre Garçon rushed for 2 yards on 3rd-and-1 to move the chains. The no-huddle offense continued with a 15-yard Gabbert completion to McDonald to the 35-yard line. The 49ers were forced to punt when Celek was tackled short of the first-down marker.

Denver began its third drive at its own 21-yard line with 1:36 left to play in the opening quarter.

Second Quarter

Just like that, the 49ers were back in the game thanks to a 42-yard, pick-six by safety Eric Reid.

The fourth-year safety read a Siemian throw, stepped in front of it, and ran the ball back down the left sideline for the score. Reid also hurdled Siemian at the goal line to record the first defensive touchdown of the preseason for the 49ers.

Phil Dawson's extra point made it a 7-7 game with 14:52 left to play in the second quarter.
Tony Jerod-Eddie injured his chest and was announced as questionable to return. The second-string defense forced a three-and-out after Reid's defensive touchdown.

Gabbert remained in the game and hit White for a gain of nine yards on the 49ers ensuing possession. Hyde added a gain of 20 with a bruising run down the right side of the field. Gabbert hit McDonald again for a gain of 19. It put the 49ers in the red zone. Hyde finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown to give the road team some serious momentum.

**

San Francisco took its first lead of the game, 14-7, with 11:18 left in the first half.**
Mark Sanchez entered the game for Siemian and was able to drive Denver's offense down the field. Following a roughing-the-passer penalty on second-year linebacker Eli Harold, the Broncos were back in the red zone at the 19-yard line.

Harold was later shaken up trying to rush Sanchez. It appeared as though Harold was favoring his stomach area as he left the field. Harold's replacement, Marcus Rush, sacked Sanchez for a 2-yard loss on third down to end Denver's drive.

The Broncos got back on the board with a 40-yard field goal from Brandon McManus to make it a 14-10 game, in favor of the 49ers with 6:51 left in the first half.
Rookie quarterback Jeff Driskel entered the game for the 49ers. Mike Davis ripped off a 19-yard run and Driskel completed a 25-yard pass to Treggs to put the 49ers back in the red zone.

San Francisco failed to convert a third-and-short, as a result, Dawson connected on a 28-yard field goal to extend the road team's lead to 17-10 with 2:45 remaining in the second quarter.
Sanchez led the Broncos back into the red zone. He was also nearly intercepted by Chris Davis, who was late to turn and grab an errant pass thrown his way.

San Francisco, however, was able to force a fumble from Sanchez when Garrett Celek's hit knocked the ball loose. It was quickly caught in the air by linebacker Nick Bellore. The play very much resembled an interception, but was ruled a fumble.

On the very next play, Mike Davis fumbled a short screen pass when he was hit by Broncos linebacker Zaire Anderson at Denver's 15-yard line.

Not to be outdone, Rush sacked Sanchez and knocked the ball loose once again. Hodges recovered the ball to thwart a Denver scoring opportunity.

The score remained 17-10 at the half with the 49ers receiving the ensuing kick to open the third quarter.

Treggs (knee) is out for the rest of the game, according to the 49ers.

The Broncos forced a second Mike Davis fumble on San Francisco's first drive of the second half.

Sanchez and Davis have both fumbled twice in the game. Davis' second turnover resulted in no points for the Broncos. Sanchez was chased out of the pocket and threw errantly down the field on third and long. The 49ers regained possession with 13:47 left to play in the third quarter at their own 11-yard line.

Driskel and the 49ers were forced to punt. On the next drive, Paxton Lynch entered the game but was not able to lead the Broncos to any points. Garrison Smith's third-down sack forced another Denver punt, giving the ball back to San Francisco at its 38-yard line with 10:04 left in the third quarter.

Driskel threw deep to undrafted rookie receiver Devon Cajuste for a 40-yard gain, but DuJuan Harris fumbled as he was approaching the goal line to keep the 49ers off the scoreboard once again. Denver recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.

Lynch led an 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by a 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end John Phillips to tie the game at 17.

Fourth Quarter

Ponder looked Simpson's way again on third down and was able to move the chains.

The 49ers converted a 4th-and-1 with a 2-yard plunge by Kendall Gaskins behind right tackle Anthony Davis. The decision to go for it paid off. Ponder called his own number on a zone-read run play and was able to beat Denver's defense around the ridge edge for a 22-yard touchdown.

The 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive took 6:31 off the clock and gave San Francisco a 24-17 lead.Ponder. Again.

The new quarterback tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Dres Anderson to extend the 49ers lead midway through the fourth quarter.

San Francisco is now up 31-17 with 6:20 left to play in Denver.Lynch drove the Broncos down to the 4-yard ilne at the two-minute warning. Lynch threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Duron Neal in the back right corner of the end zone to cap a 15-play, 76-yard scoring drive.

The 49ers lead is now 31-24 with 1:55 left in the game.