Though the 49ers lost their 10th straight game on Sunday, quarterback Colin Kaepernick put together his best performance in over two seasons, throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 113.
The performance has caused some around the league to ask the question of whether or not the 49ers might consider bringing Kap back next season, as he’s appeared to find his groove in Chip Kelly’s offense.
Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young joined the Tolbert and Lund yesterday and said that while Kap is putting up good numbers, he is benefiting from other teams not paying attention.
“The easiest yards to get are when no one is paying attention,” Young said. “There’s easy yards that you get until people really turn their attention to you. I promise you, if you’re 1-9 and you’re rolling in, it’s human nature, even the best teams, we got caught in it all the time.”
Despite the numbers and what Young says is limited attention from other teams, Kaepernick has not been able to translate his improvements to wins on the field. Sunday’s loss put his record at 0-6 as a starter this season.
“You gotta go win some games,” Young said. “You gotta show that you’ve re-taken the locker room, and the guys will follow you and all that stuff. You can’t accomplish that here in this 1-10 season.”
“Give credit where credit is due. From kind of lost his job, flat on his back, you can argue he lost the locker room and the guys, to kind of find your way back and play some decent ball. You’re really playing for a job, too. If it’s not here, you want to make sure that you have a job. Someone is gonna give him a job. Is it here? Hard one.”
Listen to the full interview below.