San Francisco 49ers stick with quarterback Colin Kaepernick for starting role – NFL News
Even though San Francisco 49ers lost Week 13 game against St. Louis Rams, they are going to keep quarterback Colin Kaepernick on starting line in Week 14 game against Miami Dolphins.
According to 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, Colin, who had been preferred over Alex Smith on starting line against Rams, played well despite the defeat.
Colin gained 208 passing and 84 rushing yards against Rams but could not provide any scoring move. However, he did contribute to setting field goals that nearly won them the game.
Harbaugh said of Colin’s performance against Rams, via team’s website:
“There were a lot of positives that were in the game. Definitely a tough loss. And specifically with Colin [Kaepernick], thought especially after the fumbled touchdown, the way he responded, the way our team responded. Again putting ourselves in a position
to win after that. And the same could be said after the safety, too. That he responded with some big throws and some big plays.”
This is somewhat confusing situation. Since quarterback Alex Smith was out with concussion it seemed only logical to start with Colin, but when Smith returned, the 49ers still selected Colin to start.
This decision received backing from many experts, but could not satisfy Smith, who had done nothing to lose the starting role. Meanwhile, 49ers’ defeat while Colin was on the starting line has once again allowed some to criticise the team’s decision.
In such a case, the decision of retaining Colin on the starting line has drawn mixed response. Smith has not yet commented on this development, but Harbaugh expects him to handle this decision professionally.
The 49ers’ head coach has also said that Smith must prepare as if he is going to start. Harbaugh said:
“We feel like Alex is, we’ve said it before, he’s one of our guys, he’s won us a lot of football games and he’ll be preparing himself to play in each of these games every single week.”
49ers have lead in National Football Conference (NFC) West and a couple of more wins can earn them a playoff spot. If Colin fails in the next game, there are chances that Smith might be given the starting role again.
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