Kaepernick talks offensive changes, Gore’s comments, table tennis, more

We had CB Shareece Wright in today and he said after yesterday's play that he came up and thanked you and was appreciative of you throwing the ball. He was kind of joking around. Do you guys talk much about what you're seeing and how you're progressing and that kind of thing?

"We're always talking about different things. What the offense is trying to do. What the defense is trying to do. Different situations."

Do you see a lot of differences with the defense as far as the amount of pressures, where they're coming from as opposed to last year?

"We're only four days into camp, so it's hard to say what their identity is right now. But, yesterday we did see a lot of pressure, a lot of different blitzes. Something we have to get comfortable with."

Are you seeing the field differently? One of the things Shareece was talking about was when he studied you guys last year he said you would be handing the ball off to former 49ers RB Frank Gore or throwing it to WR Anquan Boldin whereas this year you have more options and are not focused on one side of the field. Are you surveying the field more?

"The design of our plays is different. We're trying to get different things accomplished than we were last year. So, that changes our abilities and the way we can attack a defense."

How does the fixit portion of practice help you and how does a play get brought up again at the end of the practice?

"If it's not the way we think it should have been run in practice we'll go back, review it, make sure everyone's on the same page. Whether it's a protection-route combination, whatever it may be, we want to make sure we get those things right."

Do you find that beneficial to just the way things are going, progressing each day?

"Very much so."

Can you say, "Hey I want to do this over?" Can you go to the coach and say, "Can we put this in and fix it?"

"Yeah. Most definitely."

What does a guy like WR Torrey Smith do for your offense?

"Opens up a lot of possibilities, a lot of opportunities. He's a great player. He's shown he can make plays in big-time situations. That's something we want to take advantage of."

We saw you playing table tennis with RB Jarryd Hayne. He's pretty good at that by the look of it. But, how do you feel about him, has he shown you much out on the field with the pads and the helmet? What's your assessment there?

"Yeah. Very talented. Very gifted naturally. Someone that he's progressed a great deal since the spring. And I think yesterday in pads was a little more comfortable for him because he knew he could just go. Looking forward to see how this preseason plays out for him."

And table tennis?

"We had some good competitions in the spring. It's football time now though."

How has it helped you to being able to get the play radioed into you in the huddle so you're the one this year calling plays as opposed to a coach?

"It allows the players to have confidence in hearing your voice and you're the one that's going to be giving them direction on the field. It's something that I think every quarterback should have the ability to do."

Along those lines, yesterday Frank Gore made some comments about Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck, saying that he runs the huddle and he hasn't had that before. Do you take offense to that or do you see where Frank's coming from?

"It's not something I'm worried about. We're moving forward. It's a new season, new coaching staff, new players. That's all we're worried about right now."

Along those lines, do you feel like that's an area of your game where you have improved or you could improve, just the command of the huddle and being really able to run the show, from breaking the huddle, 22-seconds and everything that goes along with that?

"I feel like the opportunity has been put in front of me to do that."

Will they tell you in the ear? You have until what 15-seconds where you can have a coach talking to you, is that right?

"Yes."

Do you guys practice that also still on the field? Just once you get up there, will they give you any tips or anything like that?

"No. Just the play call."

Given your offseason training, what do you think has been your biggest improvement coming into training camp?

"It's hard to say one thing. I'm constantly trying to improve every aspect of my game. It's something that I really can't signify one thing."

Can you just explain to us either the differences between how you are calling the plays in the huddle last year as opposed to how it will be this year?

"We don't talk about our scheme. We don't talk about what we do in the huddle, things like that. We keep that internal."

I think it would be really interesting.

"There's a lot of things we do that would be interesting that we don't talk about."

But, you referenced the fact that it will be different and that you will actually be the guy calling the plays. Is that what you're saying? I don't know how much detail you could offer, you're saying evidently nothing. But, can you offer anything as far as how it might be different just from the mechanics of you calling a play?

"Once again, I'm not going to talk about the details of what we do in our huddle."

But, for the most part former 49ers head coach and current University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh would be the one, over the last few years, he would be the one relaying the plays to the guys?

"You can ask the same question any way you want to. You're going to get the same answer."

There's been a lot of talk about how you're throwing and your base and where your left arm is. Anquan seems to be of the belief of like you've just got to go play, you're a good quarterback and just block out all the outside noise or wherever it's coming from and just go play. Have you talked to him, had any conversations about that?

"Not too much. It's something that every player in the offseason tries to improve their game. It's different once you step on the field. You go out there, you play, you don't think about those things. But, you try to create good habits by what you do in the offseason."

You've got more skill around you at tight end, running back and wide receiver probably since you've been here. You've got to be excited about that, take a little pressure off of you and it'll be a lot of fun to distribute the ball around?

"Yeah. Very excited with the weapons we have, the opportunities we have when we're on the field. It's not, never felt like there was pressure on me to do things. I just think it's a great opportunity for us to get the ball into a playmaker's hands and allow them to make plays."


* Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers