Bernard Pollard says careers of running quarterbacks won't last

NEW ORLEANS - Bernard Pollard, the Baltimore Ravens Safety talked about facing one of football's rising stars Wednesday in New Orleans.

Pollard and the rest of the Ravens defense have spent the past two weeks preparing for Colin Kaepernick. The San Francisco 49ers Quarterback has risen to stardom in the second part of the NFL season.

Kaepernick has proven to be both elusive on the ground, and a threat through the air.

Kaepernick was compared to another young quarterback that had success on the field this season during a press conference today in New Orleans.

“You look at (Washington’s) Robert Griffin III, you look at Kaepernick and they’re very special talents. They’re guys who can kill you with both their arm and their legs," Pollard said.

The offense Kaepernick runs is called the read option. It order to be successful it takes a quarterback that can make snap decisions, and catch the defense off guard or out of position.

Pollard was asked if he thought the read options was "a fad."

“You invest all of this money in a quarterback and you  put him out there on an island where when they start running, they’re no longer protected.  In the day and age that we’re playing in, they’re protected if they’re going to throw.  But if they are going to do all of this handing off and wanting to run, then they’re not protected.  You respect the talent that these guys (QB’s who run the read-option) have, but at the same time, they’re not built to take the hits. You want to believe that their careers will last playing the read-option, but it’s not a reality.  But Colin Kaepernick is smart. He knows when to get down, he knows when to get out. The guy can run his tail off and he can throw the ball very well. If we get the chance to hit him during the read-option stuff , we’ve got to take advantage of those shots," Pollard said.

So what's Pollard's game plan?

"It goes back to being smart as a defense. Everyone can’t try to do everyone else’s jobs. If you do that, they’re going to find an opening. We’ve had two weeks to prepare. Anything that’s happened in the past doesn’t matter.  We just need to be sound and know what we’re doing," Pollard said.

Tuesday Kaepernick said he wasn't afraid of getting hurt. ( READ MORE )