SANTA CLARA -- Alex Smith was removed for one play against the Philadelphia Eagles when rookie Colin Kaepernick took a snap and handed it off.Smith has played every other meaningful snap this season. He was removed late against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a blowout victory in Week 5, as Kaepernick completed all three of his passing attempts.Around the NFL, several teams have been forced to call on their backup quarterbacks in recent weeks. And after Smith was sacked nine times against the Baltimore Ravens, we thought it might be a good time to check in with 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh on the subject of Kaepernick's development.Sit back and enjoy my penetrating line of questioning and Harbaugh's insightful answers . . . Q: What have you seen on the practice field the last 11, 12 weeks from Colin Kaepernick? What's he doing out there? What's he doing in the meeting room? How is he progressing?
Harbaugh: "Uh, he's progressing well. He's . . . what's he doing? He's, uh, he's preparing himself to play each and every week. Every week's a sprint for him as well."Q: Is he getting reps with the offense or is it pretty much just the scout team?
Harbaugh: "He's getting both."Q: Without having seen him in a game, where has he made the biggest strides that you can tell?
Harbaugh: "He's made strides in just about every area."Q: Every week you see backup quarterbacks being called upon, how would you feel about sending him out there?
Harbaugh: "Uh, I'd be confident in him."
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