The San Francisco 49ers quarterback covered a myriad of topics during his weekly touch-base with the Bay Area media on Wednesday. Among the subjects briefed in the press conference included a group of kids who mean the world to Colin Kaepernick.
1. Camp Taylor
The signal-caller has dedicated a major part of his life to the aforementioned organization, which offers medically supervised, free camps for children with heart disease. On Tuesday, Kaepernick hosted a group of Camp Taylor kids at practice. Following the session, the quarterback spent time signing autographs, taking pictures and getting to know each kid in attendance.
When asked about the experience Wednesday, Kaepernick lit up with excitement.
After team practice on Tuesday, 49ers players and coaches met up with Camp Taylor to hang out with kids and parents and sign autographs. Camp Taylor supports young people and families of children with heart disease.
"It's always amazing to be around my kids," he said. "It was great to see them and great to have them out. It made my day. It was great to have them out in the middle of camp to give me a little refresher and a back-to-reality kind of situation. I was really excited about it."
So is there one word Kaepernick would use to describe each encounter with Camp Taylor?
"Energizing," Kap said. "It brings great joy and great excitement to me. It really does make my day every time I'm around those kids. They give more to me than I could ever give to them."
2. Recapping preseason Week 1 and looking ahead to the first home game
Kaepernick only saw one series of playing time against the Houston Texans, but he is likely to receive more reps against the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday at Levi's® Stadium.
"I thought there were a lot of good things that happened for us in that game and also things that we need to clean up and get better at," Kaepernick said of the Texans game. "I'm looking forward to this week, hopefully being out there a little longer and getting into a rhythm with our offense."
3. Chemistry with Quinton Patton
The quarterback/receiver combo have spent plenty of time together since Patton entered the league in 2013. That includes offseason workouts this past offseason in Arizona. Kaepernick said he has plenty of faith in the third-year receiver.
"I have great trust in him, both as a person and as a football player," said the quarterback. "He's constantly learning and constantly talking to me about what I'm looking at. That's helped our chemistry on the field and his development as a reliable receiver."
4. Eric Pears is...
"He's really tall," Kaepernick said. "He makes me feel a little short sometimes. He's been a great player for us and done everything we've asked of him. He comes to work and works hard everyday. I'm excited to have him out there more in games and see what he does. ... We're excited about our offensive line and what they bring to the table."
Pears is currently working with the 49ers first-team offense at right tackle. Jim Tomsula also said recently that he's, "a big Pears guy."
5. Learning from Reggie Bush
There is always something to learn from a decade-long NFL veteran. Kaepernick has taken every opportunity to learn from and buiild chemistry with one of the 49ers new weapons for the 2015 season.
"He's a true professional. He comes to work and works hard everyday," Kaepernick said. "It's a constant conversation with him about what we're doing and how we want to get it done and how we want to go about things in a game. I'm excited to have him on the field and see what he can do."
