49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick not worried about arm mechanics
PostPosted:9 years 8 months ago
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13887 ... -mechanics
49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick not worried about arm mechanics
Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick conceded Wednesday that he's not "big" on his mechanics, a somewhat startling admission given his early offseason work with two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner, purportedly to improve Kaepernick's pocket presence.
And yet, Kaepernick did say he's constantly working on his mechanics and fundamentals.
"Ultimately, whether the receiver catches the ball and the ball's in the right position is the only thing that matters," Kaepernick said Wednesday. "Mechanics are -- I'm not huge on them. You can look at Philip Rivers throw; you can look at Tom Brady throw. Looks completely different, [but] they're both great quarterbacks."
Kaepernick's mechanics are again a topic of national discussion after his college coach at Nevada, Chris Ault, told Fox Sports that his former quarterback was dropping his elbow.
"With all due respect to Coach Ault, I don't know him, but we're not really paying attention to other people's evaluations," Niners coach Jim Tomsula said. "We're watching our film, and we're evaluating, and we're correcting and working on things we feel we need to work on."
Kaepernick downplayed his college coach's scouting report.
"You have to be able to change arm angles, especially on underneath throws to throw around linemen, to throw into windows," Kaepernick said. "I don't look at film that closely about mechanics of where my elbow is at."
Meaning Kaepernick does not care how the throw looks, so long as the ball gets there.
"Yeah, that's the job of the quarterback -- throw it to the receiver so he can catch it. It's that simple."
Entering the season, general manager Trent Baalke said he was mostly concerned with Kaepernick's accuracy.
After a horrid two-game stretch against the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers in which he threw five interceptions (with two returned for TDs) and no touchdowns, Kaepernick showed marked improvement last weekend at the New York Giants.
Granted, the Niners have lost four games in a row, but Kaepernick said better chemistry with his receivers, specifically Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin, contributed to his season-high passer rating of 107.1 after he threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns on 23 of 25 passing.
"Being able to let balls go and trust our receivers, and our receivers made big plays," Kaepernick said. "It was a confidence-building thing for both sides. ... It was something that we can build on moving forward and improve on."
More meeting time in the week leading up to the Giants game led to the improved chemistry, Kaepernick said.
"We went into detail over things to make sure everybody was on the same page, what we were looking to get out of each play, what we were trying to take advantage of," he said.
After the Arizona and Green Bay losses, and the manner in which Kaepernick played, many observers thought the quarterback looked rattled. He seemed to have more confidence against the Giants -- even in a loss, which should be a positive for the Niners heading into Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII rematch against the Baltimore Ravens.
"I'm not going to lack in confidence," Kaepernick said. "I have confidence in what I'm able to do on this field and what I can do to help this team win. For me, it was an opportunity to really show leadership and try to lead this team and make sure everyone has the right mindset, as this week is another opportunity to make sure everyone's focused on the right things."
49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick not worried about arm mechanics
Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick conceded Wednesday that he's not "big" on his mechanics, a somewhat startling admission given his early offseason work with two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner, purportedly to improve Kaepernick's pocket presence.
And yet, Kaepernick did say he's constantly working on his mechanics and fundamentals.
"Ultimately, whether the receiver catches the ball and the ball's in the right position is the only thing that matters," Kaepernick said Wednesday. "Mechanics are -- I'm not huge on them. You can look at Philip Rivers throw; you can look at Tom Brady throw. Looks completely different, [but] they're both great quarterbacks."
Kaepernick's mechanics are again a topic of national discussion after his college coach at Nevada, Chris Ault, told Fox Sports that his former quarterback was dropping his elbow.
"With all due respect to Coach Ault, I don't know him, but we're not really paying attention to other people's evaluations," Niners coach Jim Tomsula said. "We're watching our film, and we're evaluating, and we're correcting and working on things we feel we need to work on."
Kaepernick downplayed his college coach's scouting report.
"You have to be able to change arm angles, especially on underneath throws to throw around linemen, to throw into windows," Kaepernick said. "I don't look at film that closely about mechanics of where my elbow is at."
Meaning Kaepernick does not care how the throw looks, so long as the ball gets there.
"Yeah, that's the job of the quarterback -- throw it to the receiver so he can catch it. It's that simple."
Entering the season, general manager Trent Baalke said he was mostly concerned with Kaepernick's accuracy.
After a horrid two-game stretch against the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers in which he threw five interceptions (with two returned for TDs) and no touchdowns, Kaepernick showed marked improvement last weekend at the New York Giants.
Granted, the Niners have lost four games in a row, but Kaepernick said better chemistry with his receivers, specifically Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin, contributed to his season-high passer rating of 107.1 after he threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns on 23 of 25 passing.
"Being able to let balls go and trust our receivers, and our receivers made big plays," Kaepernick said. "It was a confidence-building thing for both sides. ... It was something that we can build on moving forward and improve on."
More meeting time in the week leading up to the Giants game led to the improved chemistry, Kaepernick said.
"We went into detail over things to make sure everybody was on the same page, what we were looking to get out of each play, what we were trying to take advantage of," he said.
After the Arizona and Green Bay losses, and the manner in which Kaepernick played, many observers thought the quarterback looked rattled. He seemed to have more confidence against the Giants -- even in a loss, which should be a positive for the Niners heading into Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII rematch against the Baltimore Ravens.
"I'm not going to lack in confidence," Kaepernick said. "I have confidence in what I'm able to do on this field and what I can do to help this team win. For me, it was an opportunity to really show leadership and try to lead this team and make sure everyone has the right mindset, as this week is another opportunity to make sure everyone's focused on the right things."