Colin Kaepernick continues to be the lightning rod during an offseason of uncertainty for the San Francisco 49ers.
From the quarterback trying to improve his pocket presence by working with Kurt Warner, to questions about how the offense will or will not be tailored to Kaepernick's athletic skill set, it's an offseason of question marks.
At least one teammate believes the young signal-caller needs to tune everything out and play his way.
"To be honest with you I think he just has to block out everything else around him, stop listening to what people want, what people have to say about you, stop listening to what people want to see you do and just be yourself," receiver Anquan Boldin said Wednesday on SiriusXM NFL Radio, via CSN Bay Area.
"I think sometimes when you try to go off the suggestions of other people and try to please other people, you forget who you are and what got you there. I think if he just goes out and (is) himself, he'll be just fine. And that's the thing I try to tell him. 'Go out and be Kap. Don't try to go out and be anybody else because that isn't what got you to this point.' "
This suggestion seems to sit in stark contrast to Kaepernick's own desire to refine and improve his pocket presence during the offseason. It's also likely that Boldin is talking about the fan and media noise regarding the quarterback's inconsistent play recently.
"I try to reassure him that he's good enough to be in the NFL," Boldin said. "I saw him. I played against him in the Super Bowl, so I know that he's talented enough to be in this league and to play well in this league. And like I said, sometimes you have to block everything else around you out and just go back to being yourself.
"Trust your skills, trust your athletic ability that you have and just go for it."
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