When 49ers coach Jim Tomsula benched Colin Kaepernick after San Francisco's Week 8 loss to St. Louis, Tomsula said he made the decision because he wanted to let Kaepernick "step back and breathe."
Although that might be partly true, former 49ers linebacker Bill Romanowksi seemed to insinuate that there might have been more involved in the decision-making process. During an interview with 95.7 The Game in San Francisco on Friday, Romanowski said that the coaches weren't thrilled with the way Kaepernick prepared for games.
"Let's talk Colin preparing for games. And you know how they get iPads now. And they regulate, and they can watch how much film you watch. Blaine Gabbert, when he was a backup, was watching four to five times as much film as Colin was," Romanowski said, via Ninersnation.com.
It's an interesting comment to hear from a guy who spent six seasons in San Francisco. It's also interesting to hear because just two days before Romanowski made the comments, Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu said Gabbert was a "better option" for San Francisco.
"That's not to take anything away from Kaepernick, but it seems like Gabbert has a little bit better grip on what's going on," Mathieu said on Nov. 25. "If he gets in a situation, he knows where the ball needs to go. He's a hell of a passer. I think he's underrated when you talk about how well he can throw the football."
Mathieu, who will be trying to stop Gabbert on Sunday when Arizona visits San Francisco, also said that his team was very familiar with everything that Kaepernick was trying to do on the field.
"We just knew Kaepernick's tendencies," Mathieu said. "We knew what he liked to do. We knew which way he wanted to roll out. We knew what side of the field he liked to read to."
Basically, Mathieu made it sound like he could tell that Gabbert was watching more film and studying harder.
"You don't pick up those same things with Gabbert," Mathieu said. "He's better in the pocket. He has a better feel for coverages. It seems like he can get to the line and see a coverage and then go to a different play. Or, see a coverage and not throw the ball. You can see Gabbert's maturity and the different things he does well that Kaepernick doesn't do well."
As for Kaepernick, Romanowski kind of portrayed him as a loner who does things on his own. The former 49ers linebacker said that Kaepernick was one of only a few players who didn't take the team bus home after the 49ers played across the bay in Oakland in 2014.
"... someone drove [Kaepernick's] car to the Coliseum," Romanowski said. "He rode the bus to the stadium, and then could leave in his own car from the game."
Of course, it shouldn't be a huge shock that negative news is being leaked about Kaepernick. The same thing happened to Jim Harbaugh toward the end of his stint with the 49ers in 2014, and as CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora has reported multiple times, it's almost certain that Kaepernick won't be back in San Francisco next season.
