SANTA CLARA – Coach Chip Kelly said Tuesday that 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who lost noticeable mass in the offseason while rehabbing from three surgeries, is not back to his previous playing weight.
Kaepernick, while speaking informally with reporters in the 49ers’ locker room on Tuesday, confirmed he has been a vegan for approximately nine months.
However, he said he has been able to retain the same body mass with his diet, in which he abstains from the consumption of any animal products. Kaepernick said he made the decision because of ethics and he feels much healthier because of it.
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Kaepernick’s girlfriend, MTV “Code Girl” star Nessa Diab, host of a nationally syndicated radio show, recently discussed their choices of a vegan lifestyle.
“He's also a vegan with me,” Diab said of Kaepernick on a video posted to the MTV2 Facebook page in June. “We did it together. Because we feel like, it's true that, I guess, the more animal products you eat and stuff like that, your body becomes more acidic, which allows more diseases to basically breed within you.
“So the more alkaline state that your body is in, the less likely you are to get some type of diseases. The more alkaline, the better you are health-wise, supposedly.”
Kaepernick underwent surgeries to his left shoulder, right thumb and left knee that kept him unable to resume his usual work in the weight room during the offseason. Kelly said Kaepernick is not back to his playing weight of previous seasons.
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“He’s not and obviously you understand that because he did have three surgeries, so he’s limited in the type of lifting he does,” Kelly said. “So he’s not the same size he was when he played. I don’t know the exact playing weight he was at, because I wasn’t here before. But, he’ll be the first to tell you that he’s not where he was before.”
Kaepernick missed the 49ers' first two exhibition games and nearly two weeks of practices from arm fatigue.
When asked if Kaepernick is at greater risk of injury because he is not back to full strength, Kelly answered, "I think that’s with any player. Whether it’s Glenn Dorsey or L.J. McCray or Colin Kaepernick, any player coming off an injury, that’s a concern.”
