How much playing time can we expect from Colin Kaepernick vs. the Vikings?

The 49ers are halfway through their preseason schedule, and Colin Kaepernick has a grand total of 16 snaps. He has played one series in each of the 49ers first two preseason games, getting 12 snaps against the Broncos and four snaps against the Chiefs.

Jim Harbaugh was asked about Kaepernick's potential playing time this weekend against the Vikings:

QB Colin Kaepernick played one series against the Chiefs. Last year in your second preseason game you had QB Alex Smith play two series, why'd you decide to scale it back for Kaepernick this year in this game?

"Fair question. Just what I said after the game. I didn't want anything ‘freakish' to happen. Sometimes you gotta have a plan and you also need a feel too. So, just felt like he has gotten tremendous amount of work in practice. Though you'd like to have him play more in the preseason games, it comes down to a feel there."

And do you plan on playing the starters longer in the third game? I apologize if you answered this already, but do you plan on playing Kaepernick and the starters more into the 2nd quarter in the third preseason game?

"There'll be a plan in place. Plan to play him longer than he played in the second preseason game, Colin in particular. But no set into the second quarter and there'll be a feel."

Coach Harbaugh has repeatedly said there is a plan in place for playing time, but he also makes sure to mention that the plan can change as the flow of the game dictates. He is saying that the plan is for Kap to get more playing time next week than game two, but given that he only got four snaps this past week, that's not exactly saying a whole lot.

However, as Coach Harbaugh mentioned, why risk the chance of some freak injury. I suppose this could happen just as easily in a regular season game, but if the coaching staff is comfortable with the work he's getting in practice, so be it. I know we all want to see how he looks with his receivers in game action, but we'll likely just have to wait for that extended look.

For now, the 49ers really do have enough question marks behind Kap, that it makes sense to sort through that mess. The team seems happy with the practice work, so it looks like we'll just have to live with that.

Speaking of practice, Kap tweeted out this picture at 6:00 a.m. when he was getting ready for his morning workout: