Kaepernick: ‘It's a great chance to lead this team'

SANTA CLARA -- At the conclusion of the 49ers' Wednesday morning walk-through, coach Jim Harbaugh gathered the team together for the great unveil.Colin Kaepernick is the 49ers' starting quarterback.Kaepernick takes over for Alex Smith, who was sidelined with a concussion Nov. 11 against the St. Louis Rams. And when the 49ers play the Rams on Sunday, a healthy Smith will be on the sideline.The 49ers and Rams played to a 24-24 tie when the teams met earlier this month at Candlestick Park."I'm very eager to get back out there," Kaepernick said. "I want to get a win this time."Kaepernick now takes over as quarterback of a playoff-bound team that's 8-2-1 and owns a 2 12-game lead in the NFC West."It's a great chance to lead this team and show we're a great team and can go into the playoffs and win games," Kaepernick said.Here is how some of the other 49ers players reacted to the news:Running back Frank Gore
"I just feel like we have two good quarterbacks who can help us win. That's a plus for this team."He (Kaepernick) can run. He's got a strong arm. I tell him when he throws it at me to ease up on it. He knows how to throw it to me."Alex has been through a lot of tough things. I think he'll be fine. I know the guy loves the games. Alex loves to play football. That's tough. But coach made the decision and we know that's what we got to go with."We got two quarterbacks, and looking around the league a lot of teams can't say that. Alex won a lot of games. Kap has won the last two games. Went down to New Orleans and won in a tough environment. You just going to be behind whoever coach says is the starting quarterback."Receiver Michael Crabtree
"Let's go play some ball. It's two games with Kap, right? Let's go play some ball."In his league, I'm not surprised by nothing. I just go out there and play my position. Whoever the quarterback is, I'm just trying to go out there and make plays."With Colin Kaepernick, you have to keep your eye on the ball. Last game, I dropped a pass that I could've dropped for a first down. It was kind of low, but the guy can throw the ball real fast. It's hard, too. So you got to concentrate."I'd say sometimes guys don't look too good at practice, but they're just gamers. It's like that sometimes. I think that's how Kaepernick is at quarterback. He knows one speed, and it's 'Go.' "Tight end Delanie Walker
(Walker said Tuesday that he would be surprised if Smith was not named the starter.)"Alex is healthy now and that's what I was talking about. He didn't do anything wrong, not to start. That's basically what I was saying."I'm a little surprised, but I'm confident in Jim Harbaugh, and whatever he decided I'm happy with it. I'm confident in Jim Harbaugh making that decision."Tackle Anthony Davis
"It's a tough spot for Coach to be in. I'm just stating the obvious. It's got to be tough on a coach to make a decision like that when you have two guys who can play that good on the same team at the same position. But it's a good problem to have."Guard Alex Boone
"I think for us, it doesn't matter who's back there. As an offensive line we're the ones mostly affected by it, but whoever's back there you see leadership in both of them, you see confidence in both of them. Having both of them back there, it's not really a big difference between the two of them so you just go out there and play."Alex sits in the pocket. Kap has a tendency to roll out sometimes but he doesn't roll out unless he absolutely has to so you're not dealing with a, 'All right, I'm gonna catch it and roll right now' kinda guy. It's 'I'm gonna wait and see what happens' and so the styles are completely the same I feel, and you can see that."Fulback Bruce Miller
"It was told to team out here that Kap's the starter. So now we got to focus on getting back out there and winning another football game."My thoughts on the quarterback issue is, you know, I think more than a controversy, it's a blessing. I think we have two guys who can come in and do a great job and, obviously, win football games."We've gone through the season, and I think we've all progressed. Kap has done a great job of coming out to work every day and getting better. Now, we're 10 or 11 weeks into the season and he's shown he's ready to play."