Colin Kaepernick didn't need any help erasing a season's worth of criticism with a single news conference Wednesday, but he got some, anyway.
While a kinder, gentler Kaepernick was disarming the media with a 900-plus word interview session and several smiles -- shown on 49ers.com and reported by ESPN -- two Hall of Famers came to the ex-beleaguered San Francisco 49ers quarterback's defense about his play this season.
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49ers Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice said much of Kaepernick's ills stem from his pass-catchers' inability to get open.
"I look for separation, and I'm not seeing much right now," Rice told the Contra Costa Times in a phone interview. "It makes it easier for a quarterback when he can see separation from defensive backs where the quarterback can throw the ball.
"Everything is so confined. They need to spread the offense out and get the wide receivers wide where they can win one-on-one."
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As the 49ers prepare to play the Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of Seattle's 19-3 victory on Thanksgiving night, in which Seahawks safety Richard Sherman twice intercepted Kaepernick, Rice said his receivers failed to realize that the throws were errant and act accordingly.
"His accuracy is not always going to be there," Rice said of Kaepernick. "As a wide receiver, when the ball is not going where it needs to be, you have to be a defender. In the Seattle game, there were a couple interceptions there. The ball was off line, but as a receiver you've got to get in there and break it up."
Former Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, who won a pair of Super Bowls with the New York Giants and made another Super Bowl appearance with the New England Patriots, chimed in on the Kaepernick situation on ESPN's "Mike and Mike," the Times reported.
"I think Kaepernick is right at the crossroads right now," Parcells said. "He's showed he can do something. I don't think he has a real good supporting cast right now."
Whether all the aura-cleansing around Kaepernick leads to an improbable victory over the Seahawks is yet to be determined. But if the 49ers win on Sunday, will Kaepernick, Rice or Parcells receive credit?
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