SANTA CLARA — When Colin Kaepernick met with reporters for the first time in training camp, there was a peculiar subject that kept coming up:
His weight.
Following offseason surgeries on his shoulder, thumb and knee, Kaepernick looked more like a wide receiver in June. He lost a significant amount of weight — noticeable to reporters all throughout OTAs and minicamp. So, how skinny did the 49ers’ quarterback get?
Even he doesn’t have a clue.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Kaepernick said. “I never weighed myself when I was at my lightest because I didn’t want to know.”
But Kaepernick did look beefed up as he returned to the practice field. The 49ers’ team website lists Kaepernick at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds. When pressed about the specifics of his weight gain in such a short time span, the 28-year-old did not divulge any details.
“It was a lot of hard work, a lot of struggle,” Kaepernick said. “From the workouts that I did with the training staff to the way I was eating. It was a combination of everything. I just had to be really focused on everything to make sure I did get my weight back and got good weight back.”
49ers coach Chip Kelly had some additional thoughts on the topic — including a likely inaccurate listing on the team website.
“A couple of years ago he was up near 230, but I don’t know if maybe that was too heavy for him,” Kelly said on KNBR 680. “I think he has a great feel for where he needs to be and what he feels the best at, in terms of being able to move and having the requisite strength to throw the ball. I don’t notice anything. I think he throws a strong ball anyways.
“He’s bigger than he was last spring, but I think there was a reason for that. Because of the shoulder surgery, and the knee surgery and the thumb surgery, he just could’t work out the way he normally works out. But the one thing about Kap is that he has tremendous work ethic. No one has ever said, ‘Boy that guy really doesn’t spend a lot of time working at the game.’ He does.”
Lighter quarterbacks are a new trend in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers is the slimmest he’s ever played at, shedding dairy from his diet.