NEW ORLEANS — Everyone, it seems, is "Kaepernicking" these days. But in the case of Ravens practice-squad QB Dennis Dixon, it’s because he’s being asked to.

49ers QB Colin Kaepernick has set the NFL on fire in his nine starts, replacing injured Alex Smith and helping the team get back to its first Super Bowl in 17 years. Kaepernick has tried to trademark “Kaepernicking” – a celebration he popularized – which involves kissing his biceps after scoring a touchdown.

The maneuver has gone viral and has pushed aside last year’s Tebowing phenomenon. But in the Ravens’ case, they are asking Dixon to imitate the unique run-pass skills of Kaepernick in their practices leading up to Super Bowl XLVII.

“I had an idea they would want me to do that,” said Dixon, a fifth-year QB out of Oregon. A fifth-round pick of the Steelers in 2008, Dixon – who ran the read-option offense under now-Eagles head coach Chip Kelly for the Ducks – was released by Pittsburgh this summer and signed to the Ravens’ practice squad in September.

“I take on any assignment my team asks of me,” he said. “I am happy to do it, and I am having fun in practice. Anything I can do to help my friends prepare, I am going to do it. And I am going to have fun doing it.”

The assignment is not wholly new for Dixon, who did his best to mimic the athleticism of Redskins QB Robert Griffin III prior to the teams’ Week 14 game. The Ravens did a decent job of containing Griffin, holding him to 34 rushing yards and sacking him three times in that game.

“There are differences and similarities between the zone-read (offenses of the 49ers and Redskins),” Dixon said. “But it’s two very young quarterbacks doing it at a very high level. They both play with a lot of confidence, too.

“I pride myself on being a student of the game, of learning my craft.”

Dixon said that when executed at a high level, the zone read can be very difficult to stop.