Kaepernick: Situation changed me

— -- San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick on Friday said he's "changed my way of thinking" in the wake of an ongoing police investigation in Miami involving himself and two other NFL players.

Police are investigating what they have described as a "suspicious incident" at a Miami hotel involving Kaepernick, 49ers receiver Quinton Patton, Seattle Seahawks receiver Ricardo Lockette and a 25-year-old woman on April 1. Police said last month that it was not a criminal investigation.

A Miami police spokesman said this week that there was no update on the investigation nor is there a timeline for any new information.

Kaepernick, who was speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, in front of nearly 1,000 people at the Turlock mayor's prayer breakfast on Friday morning, said he learned from what he called "a bad circumstance."

"It's been put out that I did something wrong," Kaepernick reportedly told the audience in his hometown of Turlock, Calif., according to the Modesto Bee. "Even though it's a bad circumstance, a bad situation, I feel like ultimately I've been blessed because it's changed my way of thinking. It's made me stronger. It's made me look at things differently.

"... Even this morning, this is a blessing. ... It makes me very happy to know that people are staying behind me the way they have."

Kaepernick, who is working with teammates at the 49ers' offseason conditioning program, defended himself on Twitter last month but had not addressed the situation since.

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has also strongly defended the quarterback.

"Looking at Colin Kaepernick's situation, at some point there needs to be a resolution to some of this jump-the-gun, witch-hunt scenario we're seeing," Harbaugh said last Friday. "I've seen one side reported. I've heard the other side and feel very good there'll be a good resolution -- and hopefully a just one, too. I hate to see his reputation be the victim."