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Niners rookie QB Kaepernick to learn playbook through others

The San Francisco 49ers moved up nine spots in the second round last Friday to draft Colin Kaepernick, but coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman are barred from contacting their rookie quarterback because of the NFL lockout.

That makes it difficult for Kaepernick to prepare for his first NFL season, but he has a plan.

*The Sacramento Bee* reported Friday that Kaepernick will reach out to Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who played under Harbaugh's tutelage for the previous three seasons.

Kaepernick has traded text messages with Luck since they met last summer at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana. After Kaepernick landed with the 49ers, he received a call from Luck and wants to continue the conversation this summer.

"Especially if the lockout stays on," Kaepernick told The Bee last week. "I'm going to try and pick his brain as much as I can and try to get a jump-start into this offense, and pick up as much as I can from him."

Kaepernick could also receive a few pointers from teammates such as quarterback Alex Smith, who was able to get a copy of the 49ers' new playbook when the lockout was briefly lifted Friday.

But what use is a playbook to a rookie who doesn't have access to coaches who can explain it to him?

"I think it's better than not having the playbook, but it does need to be coached, explained," Harbaugh said. "It needs to be interactive, questions being asked, questions being answered."

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