San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has gotten off to a dreadful start this season, and calls for him to be benched have been a frequent occurrence in recent weeks.
"Won't even go into that discussion," first-year coach Jim Tomsula said following the team's loss to the Packers on Sunday. "It's not on my mind."
Kaepernick was 13 of 25 for 160 yards against Green Bay, but the numbers don't begin to describe his struggles. And the week before, in a loss to the Cardinals, Kaepernick threw five interceptions -- and completed just nine passes to players in 49ers jerseys. But the former second-round pick, who is just 27 and in his fifth season, is still growing into the position. And that, according to former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, is one of the reasons we shouldn't usher him to the bench.
“I think the unfortunate thing for Kap is he’s continuing to try to learn how to play the quarterback position,” Warner, now an NFL Network analyst, said Monday, via CSNBayArea.com.
“Here’s an athlete that’s done some great things, not only before this but also in the NFL up to this point. But he’s still learning how to play within the pocket, still learning to get better with his technique, still trying to figure out what he’s seeing and making quicker decisions with the football.
“I know everybody wants to get down on him but give the kid a chance to grow into the position," Warner continued. "I have no idea what his future is going to be but it’s a young man that’s never really had to play the position like they’re asking him to play it now and he’s trying to learn and he’s learning under the gun.”
Warner worked with Kaepernick in the offseason on the "specifics of the position," including throwing with touch and anticipation, and becoming a "good thrower" to complement his off-the-charts athleticism.
So far, Kaepernick has regressed and there are few signs that will change anytime soon.
“Early in his career he ran a lot of that zone read, they forced other teams to bring an extra guy in the box and they gave him a lot of man-to-man coverage on the outside,” Warner explained on Monday. “As a quarterback, you love that because you drop back, you pick out your best matchup and you just throw it to the one-on-one guy. Now that they’re not running as much and they don’t want to subject him to those kind of hits, now he’s playing more dropback quarterback, teams are playing more zone against him and he’s having to make more decisions, see more on the fly and be able to anticipate and make some of those throws that he hasn’t really had to make in the past.
“I don’t know if it’s regression or it’s just a young man that’s trying to learn. As I always say, it’s hard to learn at the best level. It’s hard to learn against the best players in the world and that’s what we’re asking some of these spread quarterbacks to do once they move into the NFL.”
Meanwhile, Kaepernick says he will continue to grind.
"Study as much as I can, work as much as I can," Kaepernick said. "That's the only way I know how to fix things, is go back to work. Talking about things, analyzing things, all that is good and has its place, but at the end of the day you have to work to get better."
And if he doesn't, the 49ers may stick with him, if for no other reason than Blaine Gabbert is the only other quarterback on the active roster.
