Munchak on Kaepernick: “I hope he continues not to run against us.”

Titans’ head coach Mike Munchak spoke on a conference call with Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning. Here is a transcript.

Q: What have you seen from the 49ers on film?

MUNCHAK: I think the past three weeks they’re back to playing their type of football. They won all three games. The way they’re playing up front is always fun to watch. They’ve got a good offensive line, do some good things up front, run the ball well. They took over the game in the fourth quarter last week the way they did a lot of times last year with the different formations, the different things they do physically. Great running back. Quarterback is, again, you know, I think they’re just, they’re playing to their strengths. I think so you saw that in the past three games. I think they’re back to doing what they do well. That’s why they’ll be a great challenge to us once again, coming off a tough loss to Seattle and Kansas City. Another tough game for us.

Q: You said the odds aren’t great Jake Locker will play this week. Has that changed at all?

MUNCHAK: We’ll go out to practice here shortly. The good thing is he’s progressing very well and a lot of the soreness is gone in the last two weeks since the injury. Now it’s just a matter of getting back into football drills and seeing how fast he progresses. He’s cleared medically. He’s fine. He’s healed up. Now it’s a matter of how long it takes to get back to playing the position and being able to take a hit and do those types of things a quarterback has to do. He’ll start that stuff this week and we’ll see how far away he his.

Q: How do you treat Colin Kaepernick now? He hasn’t been running like last season. How are you going to approach him?

MUNCHAK: Well I hope he continues not to run against us. He’s a big-time weapon. We got to know him a little bit because we spent time with him when we were making our decision on a quarterback back in the draft. We knew he could be a special player just because he has a passion for the game and he’s so big and so athletic. He’s been fun to watch. I’ve enjoyed watching him play.

And I don’t think he should run. You don’t want a quarterback running too much – you’re not going to hold up, I don’t care who you are. I think it’s smart, the less he runs probably the better. He’ll run enough just being in the pocket and buying time and doing those type of things and you mix in the zone-read that he can do, obviously. I think when you have Frank Gore, you want him running the ball as much as possible. I think what they do with Colin is the exact way it should be done. He’s a guy you have to prepare for, you have to worry about all of the things he can do, you have to adjust your rush lanes, and you know there is going to be a play or two where he takes off. He’s a great weapon.

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