Game play best way to measure Colin Kaepernick’s progress

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In a not-so-surprising development, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has received verbal bouquets this summer after he received much-discussed offseason instruction in Arizona with a group that included Kurt Warner.

Safety Antoine Bethea has noted Kaepernick isn’t telegraphing his passes: “That’s a key thing for a quarterback. And he did a great job of that in OTAs.”

And fellow safety Eric Reid has hailed his improved touch on deep throws: “He’s making the tough throws now on the deep balls. The ball is hanging now and dropping over the (defensive backs). So it’s exciting to see.”

Standard summer hype? Or legitimate praise signaling Kaepernick will vault from OK to elite? Pick a pass from the early days of training camp and it will support your position.

On Saturday night, for example, Kaepernick rainbowed an exquisitely placed 45-yard touchdown pass to wideout Torrey Smith. Observation: Yep, great touch on his deep ball.

On Sunday afternoon, however, Kaepernick fired a one-hop grass-burner around the feet of wideout Chuck Jacobs, who was open on an intermediate curl route. Observation: Yep, the same scatter-armed guy who ranked 24th in completion percentage last year.

So what’s happening with the quarterback? The answer to the Is-Kaepernick-new-and-improved question isn’t likely to arrive until September. That’s the opinion of Warner and 49ers offensive coordinator Geep Chryst, who was Kaepernick’s quarterbacks coach the previous four seasons. Their praise of Kaepernick’s strides has been tempered with a plea for patience: That is, let’s see how he performs when it matters.

“We’ll see,” Chryst said. “You’ve got to get to games, too. We can work on the practice range all we want on our drive or our chip, but let’s get to games. And we’ll see then.”

Colin Kaepernick has big-play ability when he scrambles. But that can work against him, leading him to hold the ball too long — he was sacked 52 times in 2014. Colin Kaepernick has big-play ability when he scrambles. But that can work against him, leading him to hold the ball too long — he was sacked 52 times in 2014. Photo: Jeff Chiu / Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Photo: Jeff Chiu / Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Game play best way to measure Colin Kaepernick’s progress 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Warner, 44, who attended the 49ers’ practice Sunday as part of his work with NFL Network, believes Kaepernick will show progress this season in some significant areas: his mechanics (a wider base), touch and anticipation.

Warner spent six weeks in Phoenix periodically working with Kaepernick, who received most of his offseason instruction from quarterbacks coach Dennis Gile. On Sunday, Warner met with Chryst as part of his visit to Santa Clara.

“The little snippets that I’ve seen out here and talking to people, it seems like some of those things have been engaged,” Warner said. “But, again, it’s all a process. It’s one thing; we were working (in Arizona) against air. It’s another thing to take into practice. And it’s a third thing to take it to Sunday afternoons and to make sure you can put all those things together.”

Kaepernick is attempting to succeed where many of his fleet-footed predecessors fell short. Of the top 10 quarterbacks in career rushing yards, only Steve Young ranks among the top 20 in passer rating.

Young believes a quarterback’s ability to run can hinder his development as a passer. Instead of learning to stay in the pocket, read coverages and throw, running quarterbacks often rely on their legs to bail out a play when their initial targets aren’t open.

Warner is a two-time NFL MVP who ranks ninth in league history in passer rating, but he acknowledged he was of little use to Kaepernick in this area: knowing when to give up on pass play and scramble for yardage.

Warner was a largely immobile pocket passer who had 286 rushing yards in 124 games. Kaepernick has 507 rushing yards in six postseason starts.

“I told him early, ‘Here’s the one hard part about this: ‘I can help you at getting more comfortable inside the pocket, but that’s all I ever did. I was always just a pocket guy. So I can help you with that,’” Warner said. “The hardest thing I believe for any athletic quarterback is to figure out that balance between, ‘How long do I stay a passer and when do I become an athlete and be special that way?’”

Kaepernick’s athleticism allows him to extend plays, an asset that can become a curse. The 49ers allowed the third-most sacks (52) in the NFL last season, partly because Kaepernick attempted to elude pass-rushers and make plays instead of throwing the ball away.

On Sunday, his desire to make a high-degree-of-difficulty play cost him. He was flushed to his left and tossed an across-his-body, on-the-run laser deep to wide receiver Anquan Boldin, an ill-advised pass grabbed by cornerback Tramaine Brock.

Chryst noted Kaepernick should have eschewed a pass, run for 20 yards and stepped out of bounds, but said “he’s back to camp and having fun.” In other words, no big deal … for now.

“Right now, those turnovers are calorie-free, but we know we’ve got to tighten that down when the games begin,” Chryst said. “That’s using his athletic ability, but it ends up being a negative.”

Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch