49ers wide receiver Josh Morgan took some time to speak with the media after today's practice and based on some of his comments, he might be developing into one of the more interesting characters on the team. The funniest part had to be the way he has been messing around with rookie QB Colin Kaepernick:
-Q: How has it been with Kaepernick-obviously he can't do too much-but what's he been like?
-MORGAN: He's sticking with the quarterbacks, trying to learn everything, taking it all in.
I mess with him, making him think I'm a little slow. I keep asking him the play, like he's thinking I'm doing it because I really don't know, but I'm just doing it because I'm getting him used to saying it all the time. Because that's what he's got to do.
He's doing it. But he's kind of looking at me like, ‘Why do you keep asking me? They said you were one of the smartest ones-why do you keep asking me?' He keeps giving me that look. So I'm going to keep messing with him.
I realize it's mostly rookie hazing, but I can picture Morgan just giving Kaepernick a glazed over look like he doesn't know what's going on. At the same time, getting him to repeat the plays does some like a pretty smart move on Morgan's part. When you're learning new language and have to memorize something (be it a playbook or a new language, repetition really is the key.
A significant obstacle to learning this offense is going to be just plain memorization. I'm always amazed at how much football players are able to memorize when it comes to learning a new offense. I don't think football players get nearly enough credit for what they learn in what is really a fairly limited amount of time.