Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Colin Kaepernick reflects on his last visit to Arizona
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Last game had to be somewhat encouraging for you, getting almost 400 passing yards and the offense seemed to be making progress.
"Yeah. It is encouraging. We put up some yards. We need to put up more points along with those yards. We still left a lot of opportunities out there on the field for bigger plays, more yards, more points. So, those are things we have to be able to capitalize on."
Just studying Arizona this week, you're going back, obviously last time there was probably the worst game of your career. Would you agree with that and just what your memories of that and how have you studied the film of it?
"Yeah, it probably was the worst game of my career. So, it's a good opportunity to go back, redeem myself and try to help get this team back on track. Looking at film, they're a team that they know what they want to do and they do it well. So, that's something that we have to be able to go out, be on top of everything we're doing and win one-on-one matchups"
Is that a game you remember or you just forget? I mean, obviously, you study the film but then put it behind you or is it something that still kind of drives or motivates you?
"No. I mean, you always remember those games, but you move on from it. You can't linger on it. You can't dwell on it. You take what you can learn from it and move on."
Before and after that game, you had quotes from their defensive players kind of saying 'We know how to beat Kaepernick, they won't throw it outside' or whatever it was. Do you think they had kind of the book on how to beat you? Was what they were saying accurate?
"Well, everybody's going to have a game plan. That's part of football. So, that might have been a part of their game plan, whatever they were saying. So, it's something that our game plan is going to be able to attack their defense in different ways that we feel like we can take advantage of."
Last year, you had spent that couple of months in Arizona working on your technique, working on lots of things. When you go back and revisit it that, was that time well spent or did that kind of mess with your confidence or anything like that to result in what happened last year?
"No, I wouldn't say it messed with my confidence or anything like that. I would say it's something that at this point in my career, I just have to go out and play. And working on mechanics, those are things you can fine tune a little bit but you don't want to do too much of that where you're not out there just playing naturally."
Did you feel like that, that you were restrained a little bit and worrying about mechanics and things like that?
"I wouldn't say restrained. It was just something that I was training one thing and my body naturally wanted to do another. So, I had to find that middle ground."
You've been here since WR Quinton Patton got here. How have you seen him develop as a receiver?
"He's someone, he comes out and works every day. You're going to get everything he has every play in practice, on the game field. For me, it's exciting because he's someone I've been close to and to see him come out, be a starter now, be a significant part of this offense and make big plays for us, it's exciting. It's great to see that."
He set career highs with six catches, 100 yards. Do you feel like he's developing into a guy that you can trust on game day and when you're in a pinch you can go to him?
"Yeah, most definitely. He's someone that continues to grow. He gets a better and better feel for the game, what this offense wants to do and the timing of everything. So, as he continues to grow, continues to develop, that's someone that we'll be able to rely on more and more."
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