Colin Kaepernick on playing under center: “It’s helped this offense.”

This is the transcript of Colin Kaepernick’s Tuesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. How do you feel about this opportunity this week to face a division team at home and get back 1-1 in the division standings? “Yeah, it’s a huge opportunity for us. Like you said, to get back to 1-1 in our division, to give us an opportunity to get to 3-4 overall and start…

October 20, 2015
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49ers training camp report: Day 15

SANTA CLARA – Here are the highlights from the 49ers’ first half-speed non-padded practice of training camp, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes. The first-team offense and first-team defense never faced each other during team drills – both units faced scout teams only. Apparently this is how Friday practices will function during the regular season. THE GOOD 1. OLB Aaron Lynch. Chased down and tag-sacked backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert…

August 21, 2015
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49ers training camp report: Day 14

SANTA CLARA – Here are the highlights of the 49ers’ fifth non-padded practice of training camp. THE GOOD 1. TE Vernon Davis. One of those days no one could cover him. Made seven catches during team drills, and scored a touchdown against safety Jimmie Ward during one-on-one drills in the red zone. Ward jumped to swat the football, Davis jumped much higher and caught the football, barreled through Ward on…

August 20, 2015
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49ers training camp report: Day 13

SANTA CLARA – Here are the highlights of the 49ers’ ninth padded practice of training camp. THE GOOD 1. OLB Aaron Lynch. Started at left outside linebacker in the first-string base defense and at left defensive end in the first-string sub-packages. Today was only Lynch’s second day of team drills, and he already seems to have taken Corey Lemonier’s job. Poor Corey. 2. S Jaquiski Tartt. Today the Niners practiced…

August 19, 2015
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49ers training camp report: Day 10

SANTA CLARA – Here are the highlights of the 49ers’ sixth padded practice of training camp. THE GOOD 1. WR Torrey Smith. Faced Niners’ No. 1 cornerback Tramaine Brock three times during one-on-one drills in the red zone, and beat him all three times. First Smith beat Brock with a fade route to the back pylon. Next Smith beat Brock with a double move – first in, then out. Finally…

August 12, 2015
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Dontae Johnson expects Jay Cutler to test him Sunday Night

SANTA CLARA – Dontae Johnson was interviewed next to his locker Thursday afternoon. Here’s a transcript Q: Going up against Jay Cutler do you expect to be targeted a little more just because you’re the rookie? JOHNSON: Yeah, absolutely. That’s just one of the things: “He’s a rookie. Let’s see if he can play this game.” That’s one of the things that comes with being a rookie. You’ve got to…

September 11, 2014
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49ers 21, Chargers 7: Starters’ grades

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers beat the Chargers 21-7 Sunday afternoon. Here are the grades for the Niners’ starters. KAEPERNICK: D-. Fumbled twice and committed one turnover. Completed 50 percent of his passes. Completed zero percent of his passes in the red zone. Posted a 64.2 passer rating. Performed poorly in areas he needed to improve this offseason – accuracy, touch, footwork and red-zone passing. RUNNING BACKS: C. Carlos Hyde…

August 24, 2014
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Jim Harbaugh ends open practice at Levi’s Stadium after 45 minutes

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers have been talking about the Levi’s Stadium grass all week. Its roots haven’t set, the 49ers say. The footing is no good and patches of sod are coming up. Stevie Johnson slipped on the grass 45 minutes into practice, got up and started limping. Two plays later, Harbaugh pulled the team off the field and finished practice on the practice field which is closed to…

August 20, 2014
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Kenneth Acker picks off two passes, Devon Wylie beats Jimmie Ward three times in team drills

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me during Wednesday afternoon’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Colin Kaepernick. Completed 22 of 32 pass attempts during team drills. He threw two touchdowns during an 11-on-11 goal line drill – one to Anquan Boldin and one to Asante Cleveland. Kaepernick also got intercepted on a deep pass in the end zone – Perrish Cox jumped and caught the ball over Quinton…

August 13, 2014
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Greg Roman says it is “too early to tell” if Quinton Patton’s and Adam Snyder’s injuries are serious

Here is a transcript of Greg Roman’s Sunday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. staff. Opening comments: “Having a lot of good work against a very good Ravens team. Tempo is very similar to what we’d be doing against ourselves, but we get to do it against a different style of defense and certainly different style of players. Everybody’s working very well together and I think we’re getting a…

August 10, 2014
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Colin Kaepernick says Quinton Patton is “a great route runner.”

SANTA CLARA — Colin Kaepernick was interviewed by Bay Area reporters next to the 49ers’ practice field Tuesday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. staff.   What are some of the things that you hope to get out of an exhibition game like this? “We get to see where we’re at as a team. Especially a lot of the young guys that we have, we get…

August 5, 2014
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Greg Roman says George Whitfield “communicates at a high level.”

SANTA CLARA — Greg Roman was interviewed by Bay Area reporters in the 49ers’ auditorium Tuesday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. staff. Opening comments: “Good morning. That’s a pretty nice picture of Ronnie Lott out there. What a warrior, what a competitor. We’ve got quite a few of them, too. So, we’re heading to Baltimore. We’ve got our entire offense installed. As you go through…

August 5, 2014
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Chris Cook explains what makes Quinton Patton hard to cover

SANTA CLARA — Chris Cook was interviewed by Bay Area reporters outside of the 49ers’ locker room Monday afternoon. Here’s what he said about Quinton Patton. Q: What makes Quinton Patton hard to cover? COOK:  He’s good with his stems and at the line he gives you a lot of shake. As a corner, you have to be patient when guys are shaking a lot at the line. For most…

August 4, 2014
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Chris Cook intercepts two, Quinton Patton catches eight

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me during Monday afternoon’s padded practice in Levi’s Stadium. THE GOOD 1. Chris Cook. His biggest weakness is defending the deep pass and he picked off two of those today. First he picked off a deep pass intended for Devon Wylie (Josh Johnson threw it), and then Cook picked off a deep pass intended for Chuck Jacobs (Blaine Gabbert threw it). Cook…

August 4, 2014
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49ers camp progress report

This is my Saturday column. SANTA CLARA – Eight training camp practices down, three to go before the 49ers play preseason game No. 1 and you see this for yourself. Until then, here are my top five takeaways from camp. 1. Colin Kaepernick is improving. It’s his fourth season in this offense and he has it down cold – that’s the first thing you notice. He shouts a million things…

August 2, 2014
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Colin Kaepernick throws touchdown passes, Anquan Boldin throws punches at Darryl Morris

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at Friday’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Colin Kaepernick. Completed 14 of the 19 passes he attempted during team drills. He threw three touchdown passes – one to Quinton Patton, one to Vernon Davis and one to Chuck Jacobs. This may have been Kaepernick’s best practice of camp. 2. Vernon Davis. Made five catches during team drills. One was a five-yard…

August 1, 2014
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Borland beats Hyde again

SANTA CLARA — Here is what stood out to me at the 49ers’ non-padded practice Thursday afternoon. THE GOOD 1. Patrick Willis. Forced a fumble. Will Tukuafu caught a pass over the middle, turned and took two steps upfield when Willis punched the ball out of his hands. 2. Michael Wilhoite. Punched a ball out of Quinton Patton’s hands during a red zone drill. Patton hadn’t taken a step with…

July 31, 2014
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Tramaine Brock breaks up three, Chris Cooks gives up nine

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at the 49ers’ first padded practice of training camp. THE GOOD 1. Tramaine Brock. Broke up three passes today. First, he intercepted Kory Faulkner who was trying to throw to Stevie Johnson. Then, Brock broke up a pass intended for Carlos Hyde. And then, Brock broke up a pass intended for Kassim Osgood. 2. Michael Crabtree. Dropped one pass in the…

July 26, 2014
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Why the 49ers need Vernon Davis

This is my Friday column. Forget about contracts and holdouts for a moment. Let’s focus on why Vernon Davis is vital to the 49ers’ offense. Before I hit you with a barrage of X’s and O’s, there’s one stat you should know about Davis. He scored a touchdown once every four catches last season — the best rate in the NFL. If he had played in an offense that didn’t…

June 20, 2014
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OTA Notes: Ellington beats Johnson, Patton beats Brock, Brooks beats Kaepernick

SANTA CLARA — Here’s what stood out to me at Wednesday’s mini-camp. THE GOOD 1. Bruce Ellington — The only receiver who caught a deep pass. During one-on-one drills, Ellington ran deep against rookie cornerback Dontae Johnson. McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw a perfect deep pass. Ellington jumped up and caught the ball over Johnson, who is five inches taller than Ellington. 2. Quinton Patton — Was two-for-two against Tramaine Brock during…

June 18, 2014
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