Just because Colin Kaepernick's mentor left town doesn't mean he intends to stop learning.
The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the embattled San Francisco 49ers quarterback will train in Phoenix during the offseason at EXOS performance and enlist the help of former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner and quarterbacks coach Dennis Gile.
Kaepernick turning to Warner seems to be an odd pairing upon initial inspection because Warner was a classic in-the-pocket passer with little mobility while Kaepernick is one of the NFL's most athletic quarterbacks.
But that could be precisely why Kaepernick is leaning on Warner - to learn the art of becoming a pocket passer. The Sacramento Bee reported that Warner will go over film study and 7-on-7 drills.
Colin Kaepernick failed to develop under Jim Harbaugh's coaching staff?
Gile, a former quarterback at Central Missouri State who set a collegiate passing efficiency record with a 214 rating, has worked with NFL prospects Tim Tebow and Christian Ponder.
Kaepernick hinted that he may have been using bad habits in 2014 but couldn't make wholesale changes in his approach while in season.
"You still watch mechanics, what you can do better, but it's more of a week-to-week basis," he said. "It's hard to break habits in season. You don't want to completely try to change something because it can throw off everything else you're doing."
Kaepernick already lost $2 million of his 2015 salary because he failed to lead his team to the Super Bowl or earn All-Pro status in 2015. And the coach who made him a starter, Jim Harbaugh, bolted for Michigan after the 49ers' 2014 season ended.
An emotional Kaepernick told FOX Sports that Harbaugh was "the only one to publicly stand up for me," before the regular-season finale.
Theoretically, the 49ers could cut Kaepernick before April 1 and not have the pay the remaining six years of his seven-year, $126 million contract. The deal he signed with the team last summer puts the 49ers in the position of power.
Kaepernick is hoping to take some of that power back if his work with Warner proves fruitful.
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