Expectations must be high if an 8-8 season is considered disastrous, but that was the case last year for the San Francisco 49ers. Amid palpable friction between Jim Harbaugh and the front office, the most significant growing concern was Colin Kaepernick's ability under center. The dynamic playmaker looked lost on the field, regressing in his third year as the starter.
Without prompting, Kapernick brought up the topic himself Wednesday, when asked what he thought new head coach Jim Tomsula meant when he said Kaep was not being asked to do anything new.
"I would say the biggest thing is I'm being asked to be myself this year," Kaepernick said via ESPN.com. "And I don't think anyone knows how to be myself better than me. So it's a comfort zone for me. It's a situation where I'm not being asked to do things outside of my character."
Does the young QB mean that he feels he was asked to do things that didn't come naturally to him prior to this point?
"Outside of how I would normally handle situations, yeah," Kaepernick said.
The San Fran signal-caller was then asked whether he was specifically referring to playing in the pocket more or being instructed not to leave the pocket.
"No," Kaepernick responded. "I'm getting at that I was asked to do things outside of my character."
And then he thanked the media and walked off the stage.
Kaep enjoyed his rise to prominence during a Super Bowl run under Harbaugh, so it's not as if the two didn't make some magic together. But through two games (a small sample size, but still), Kaepernick is completing a career high 69.4 percent of his passes and has accounted more almost 600 yards of total offense by himself. The 49ers (1-1) rank fourth in total offense (402.0 yards per game) and second in rushing (170.5).
It's still early, but these are positive signs for the 49ers moving forward.