Although the Lions are lacking a veteran backup quarterback, they’ve given no consideration to signing free agent Colin Kaepernick, head coach Jim Caldwell said Wednesday (via Nate Atkins of MLive.com). Caldwell respects Kaepernick’s ability – “I don’t think that his skill level has diminished to the point where he would be completely ineffective in this league,” he said – but the Lions will go forward with Jake Rudock and Brad Kaaya behind Matthew Stafford.
While Caldwell seems somewhat bullish on Kaepernick, questions regarding the 29-year-old have been mounting around the NFL since 2013 – his second full season as a starter – details Mike Sando of ESPN.com. Back then, one agent told Sando: “I don’t think he’s a very good quarterback. I think he is an incredible athlete.” More recently, Sando spoke earlier this month with various evaluators who addressed the fact that Kaepernick remains unsigned. “I do think he is getting kind of screwed,” said one team executive. But a personnel director noted: “You bring him in, and it is a media onslaught. It is not good or bad. It’s just, every time there is a social issue or anything that comes up, they are going to call him, they are going to want his feedback. Is that wrong? No, it’s not wrong. But he has thrust himself out there, much like Tim Tebow has with other various items or agendas. Is it really worth it?”
As Kaepernick waits to see if Seattle will end up as his next landing spot, here’s more from around the league:
- The Chargers’ first-round pick, wide receiver Mike Williams, could be falling behind early on account of a back injury that he suffered on the first day of rookie minicamp nearly two weeks ago. Williams, the seventh overall selection, hasn’t been able to take the field during OTAs, leading to some concern from head coach Anthony Lynn. “I’d like to see him out there next week because he’s getting behind right now, and we’ve got to get him back out on the field,” Lynn said (via Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com). “If he wasn’t a rookie it would be different. But he has so much to learn, and some of this you can only learn on the field.” Williams is the second first-rounder in a row to start off inauspiciously for the Chargers, whose top pick in 2016, Joey Bosa, didn’t debut until October on account of a contentious holdout and a hamstring injury. Of course, those initial roadblocks didn’t prevent Bosa from having an excellent rookie season.
- Texans offensive lineman David Quessenberry returned to the practice field Tuesday for the first time since being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2014, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The 2013 sixth-round pick was set to enter his second season before the diagnosis temporarily derailed his life and career. Fortunately, Quessenberry went into remission in 2015 and then wrapped up his chemotherapy treatment this past April.
- Like Quessenberry, Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater took to the practice field for the first time in a while on Tuesday (a devastating knee injury had kept Bridgewater completely out of action since last August). The 24-year-old then ventured to Dallas on Wednesday for a medical checkup that yielded positive news, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Edward Lewis of NFL.com). Bridgewater’s doctor told him that “he’s making progress in his rehab and lateral movement,” writes Lewis.
Kappy is done stick a fork in him covered in bacon grease.
Agreed and Also he’s a racist and an America hater, most teams don’t want the distraction of his personal nonsense! He’s also a bad influence on his teammates!
Lmao, can always count on the comment section for some good ‘ol ignorance. You seem like the only racist here buddy.
The selection of quotes from Sando’s articles was unbalanced. Here’s a couple you missed:
“The reality is that even before the anthem controversy, 46 league insiders voted Kaepernick the 29th-best starter — barely ahead of Mark Sanchez, who was cut by Denver before the season.”
“Kaepernick ranks 30th out of 32 qualifying quarterbacks in Total QBR over the past two seasons. “
Can Kaep technically b a “racist” when he was raised by a white parent. I think the reason he hasn’t found a team is he’s not good enough to start and too good to bring on as a back up if u got an unsettled QB room.
The Reason he’s unsigned is simply that he’s not good enough. Even if he was good enough to be a back up, he’s not worth the money he wants not the aggravation he brings. I hope he just goes away quietly and lives his life. I don’t believe he even believes in the persona he became. I think he did something stupid and then got caught up in trick back and then used the medias thought that his actions were due to rights. He didn’t and never intended a rights issue. Media creation.
He’s a one trick pony. He can’t throw and the league watched the Packers game and changed their def around him and now he’s done. He’s a fool for opting of out his contact.
Lions have Ruddock and Kaaya who are both better then Kap… No thanks.
Shouldn’t say better. Just potentially better i should have stated.
Watching the Gruden QB camp with Kaaya I was hoping he would get drafted didn’t know it would be by my Lions. I’m glad he already sent Orlovski “out of bounds”
This whole Kaepernick social justice thing would be totally different if it wasn’t perfectly lined up with him and his team plummeting out of relevance on the field. It just seemed that as his once-promising career was in a free fall and his team was falling apart around him, he was more interested getting media exposure than he was doing the job that made him a household name in the first place.