WR Rod Streater, who the San Francisco 49ers traded for on September 3, joined Papa & Towny on 95.7 The Game on Tuesday. He discussed his career with the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, and dealing with injury. Streater also offered some insight on Chip Kelly's offense and why – at times – it has seemed slower paced than it was in Philadelphia.
Streater didn't have the benefit of an entire offseason to learn Kelly's fast paced offense, joining the team just prior to the start of the regular season. "In the beginning it was hard, but I studied, the coaches kept me in here, worked with me over time, and we've been going hard at it," Streater said. "It took me a couple of weeks to get down, but I'm really comfortable with it now and they're confident in me and hopefully I get out there and start making plays. But it's definitely something that takes a little bit of time to get use to."
Streater was asked if Kelly has purposely tried to back off of the fast tempo the past couple of weeks. "Um, yeah. When you got guys like me and [Jeremy] Kerley coming in, you can't really go as fast," Streater answered. "We had to pretty much learn it. But now that we got it down, we got to go out there and start executing it and go a little bit faster. But in the beginning, you had to kind of slow down because you got a bunch of new guys out there that need to probably think a little bit harder about the play."
Jeremy Kerley joined the 49ers on August 28 via a trade with the Detroit Lions. He leads the team in receptions with 18 for 202 yards and a touchdown.
"It took me a couple of weeks to show them that I could run these routes and get the confidence," said Streater while discussing when he would become a bigger part of the 49ers' offense. "I just can't come in here and hop right in. So I had to prove myself and show that I could actually run their offense. I think they're confident on whenever my time is called, I'll be ready to go."
"He looks good," Streater said when asked about Colin Kaepernick. "He looks healthy. He's out there throwing the ball, making completions and practicing hard. I haven't really talked to him one-on-one to see how he's feeling but he looks really good. He's throwing the ball deep. He's got the plays down. So I'm confident that he's ready to go."
Streater said that he is completely healthy now. He fractured his foot during a 2014 Week 3 matchup at New England and had surgery to place screws in his foot. Injuries have limited Streater to just four games over his last two seasons. He has played in 29 snaps for the 49ers so far this season.
You can listen to the entire interview on 95.7 The Game.
The team prepares to host the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday with kickoff at 5:25 PM.