Getty Images

For much of last season, Colin Kaepernick’s foot put him on the 49ers’ injury report. But Kaepernick always played through it, and he said at the time that it wasn’t a big deal, joking that it was just a hangnail. Now Kaepernick says it was much more serious than that.

In fact, Kaepernick told the Sacramento Bee that he actually suffered a chipped bone on his forefoot and a ruptured capsule in the ball of his foot during a Week Two game against the Seahawks. Kaepernick said that slowed him down for most of the rest of the season.

“It was something that was always there,” he said. “Never spoke about it, never said anything about it because you’re a football player; you play through pain. Unless you’re being carted off, you should be on the field. If it’s something you can play through, that’s what you do.”

Kaepernick said he views the injury as just part of football.

“I think that’s the kind of players we have on this team: You’re not going to let something that’s minor, that’s not a true injury, keep you off of the field,” he said. “You’re going to hurt, yes. You’re going to have tweaks and problems. But you’re a football player; you can play through those.”

Kaepernicke played through the injury last year, and played well.