Colin Kaepernick could be on his way to become more and more of a pocket passer each day. In this case, it's not necessarily a good thing.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that the San Francisco 49ers quarterback engaged in a footrace with defensive end Aldon Smith to an end zone pylon, in which Smith actually got to the pylon first and kept Kaepernick out of the end zone.
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The only question is whether Kaepernick's loss of foot speed is an attempt to emulate two-time NFL MVP quarterback Kurt Warner, who trained with Kaepernick in the offseason and taught him the nuances of staying in the pocket.
"Smith did, however, beat Kaepernick to the edge with a yard to spare," the Mercury News reported. "Smith continued his sprint out of bounds and celebrated with a primal scream of joy, mixed in with a colorful expletive. He had won the showdown between arguably the 49ers' top play makers on each side of the ball, the top two picks in the 2011 draft."
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To be fair to Kaepernick, the Mercury News reported that Smith had lined at his normal spot on the right edge. Assuming Kaepernick lined up under center and the two raced toward the left end zone pylon, Smith would've had a shorter route.
Nor did the article mention where on the field the two were lined up.
The Mercury News lauded both Kaepernick and Smith for their competitive nature, which could rub off on their teammates. Kaepernick has shown himself to be a team player; he was seen celebrating with his wide receivers on the field after big plays, and he played ping pong with a new offensive lineman after practice.
Smith, who was suspended for the first nine games of the season for violating the NFL's personal conduct and substance abuse policies, also looked to be in a better place, the Mercury-News reported.
The key for the duo is to get the 49ers in a better place in 2015 than they were in 2014.
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