New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spoke with the San Francisco 49ers media via a conference call today and discussed his view of Colin Kaepernick and what he brings to Sunday's matchup.
"I think he's a very dangerous player back there," Belichick said. "It's a different offense so some of the things are a little bit different [from when the two teams faced each other in 2012], but he can hurt you in a lot of ways. He's got a good arm, throws the ball all over the field, athletic, can extend plays, can also run for yardage. I think he's shown a good ability to run the offense. Some of the checks or decision making that coach [Chip] Kelly has the quarterback doing, it looks like he handles that well on film. It looks like he makes good decisions."
Belichick was asked if it's Kaepernick's ability to run that makes him so dangerous. "He extends plays and throws too," he answered. "He had a touchdown pass...when was it? Last week? To [Shaun] Draughn where he scrambled out to his left, extended the play, hit him in the end zone. He does a good job of getting his eyes downfield and seeing if it's an extended play, seeing it develop, and then making a good decision whether to throw it or run it. He can do either."
Trent Baalke came up in the discussion and Belichick shared his opinion on the 49ers general manager. "His philosophy on what he has done with the team, he's obviously added a lot of talented players," he said. "He's drafted some big, fast guys, defensive lineman, offensive lineman last year. He's picked some developmental type players like [Tank] Carradine, injury type guy. A lot of the guys that he has drafted and put on his team, I think probably every team in the league would like to have some of those players."
The 49ers and Patriots play each other at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, November 20 at 1:25 p.m.
