Harbaugh on Kaepernick’s lack of playing time: “I didn’t want anything freakish to happen.”

SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh spoke in the media tent Sunday morning. Here’s what he said.

Q: What is the complexion of practices these final two weeks of the exhibition season? Will you still do some ones against ones, or will it be mostly scout team work?

HARBAUGH: It will not change very much. It will still be one versus one, two versus two, one versus two, two versus one, similar to what we had been doing. The twos have been playing a lot, so it might take a load off of them. They’ve been getting quite a bit of practice. The only thing I can think of right now is cutting down their reps because they’ve been getting such a high volume.

Q: The wide receivers got in the game in roughly the same order versus Denver and versus Kansas City. Is that where things are right now? Can that be seen as a pecking order for the wide receiver group?

HARBAUGH: There are some guys who have now gotten into the game, gotten familiar with the system, Hawkins, Collie, they’re more up to speed. They’re showing good things. There’s opportunity to move up or move down. I wouldn’t say that there’s a set pecking order.

Q: It’s still fluid?

HARBAUGH: Yes. Still competing.

Q: What’s the plan with Quinton Patton now, is he a full go?

HARBAUGH: Yes.

Q: How do you evaluate him in two weeks?

HARBAUGH: He’s been doing everything but catching the ball the past three weeks. Now he can start catching the football. How do evaluate him? That continues.

Q: How do you evaluate Collie knowing that he’s still not going at full speed? Do you keep that in the back of your mind and extrapolate what he would look like?

HARBAUGH: There are always different things going on with different guys. Quinton Patton has been another example.

ME: Colin Kaepernick played one series against the Chiefs. Last season in your second preseason game you played Alex Smith for two series. Why did you decide to scale it back for Kaepernick?

HARBAUGH: Fair question. I didn’t want anything freakish to happen. Sometimes you’ve got a plan, but you also need a feel, too. It just felt like he has gotten a tremendous amount of work in practice. We’d like to have in play more in the preseason games, but it comes down to a feel there.

ME: Do you plan on playing him and the starters into the second quarter in the third preseason game?

HARBAUGH: There will be a plan in place. I plan to play them longer than they played in the second preseason game, Colin in particular. But nothing set into the second quarter. There will be a feel.

Q: Will Mario Manningham start the season on the PUP list?

HARBAUGH: Yes.

Q: Is his rehab going about as expected?

HARBAUGH: It’s going very well. We’ve had great feedback on Mario. He’s really feeling now that he can put his foot in the ground and generate some power. It’s exciting and he’s excited about it. Also with Michael Crabtree, he’s hit every single goal as far as his timeline. That’s been really exciting and encouraging. And others as well. Everything’s been positives. There’s been no setbacks with any of the players who have been on the PUP.

Q: Is B.J. Daniels going to get more reps at quarterback in practice now?

HARBAUGH: Yes. What he did the other night was very positive. As far as how the reps will go this week in practice, I plan on them being even with Colt and Scott and B.J.

Q: Did that performance by Daniels more time?

HARBAUGH: It was an encouraging performance. He’s done some encouraging things in practice as well. He continues his process. He competed well, made plays. Someone does a good job, you give them a little more.

Q: Have the reps been even to this point?

HARBAUGH: They’ve been pretty close to even. They’ve all gotten a pretty good share of the reps when Kap hasn’t been in there. It’s been more Scott and Colt, a little bit less for B.J., but we’ll probably even those up this week.

Q: Does draft status and cap implications, does that factor into whether he’ll make the 53-man roster?

HARBAUGH: Things factor in, but it’s been longstanding in football since its inception – the best players make the team.

Q: Has he shown enough to make it? Do you think he’ll make it?

HARBAUGH: He’s shown good things. He’ll do some additional things this week, put him in some additional roles and see how he does with that. Like any particular player when you start talking individually, there’s a process there and he’s going through it and he’s competing. He’s working hard. Usually when you do that, good things happen.

Q: Is he a guy you’re counting on for the regular season?

HARBAUGH: Yeah. We’re counting on all of these guys. Everybody has the license and ability to make the football team. There is nobody we discount at this point. We put them in a position to compete and let the chips fall where they may. That’s every guy that’s on our roster.

Q: When you talk about additional roles, are you talking more about the split end position on offense?

HARBAUGH: Yeah, more special teams. And his role on offense.

Q:  Kick returner?

HARBAUGH: Yeah. That’s something we’d like to see this week.

Q: What’s been your evaluation of LaMichael James handling punts so far?

HARBAUGH: He’s done an excellent job from where he was last year to right now. It’s been remarkable. Credit to LaMichael, to the coaches, just how far he’s gone and come in one year.

Q: What have you seen from Eric Reid in the preseason games, and is he getting closer to playing with the starters?

HARBAUGH: It’s been very positive, everything he’s showed. There will be looks for him with the first team.

Q: Are you getting any definition as far as where things stand at wide receiver?

HARBAUGH: Wouldn’t say anything is cemented, but there has been excellent play from Anquan Boldin. Kyle Williams, we feel we know what Kyle can do. We’re being a little bit cautious there. I’m not going to go through every single guy, but there is a framework there. Marlon Moore has done an excellent job. And I think everybody is in a very competitive role after those three.

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