SANTA CLARA, Calif. — With little greater than two weeks left till the regular-season opener, the San Francisco 49ers have little concept who will deal with kicking duties in opposition to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
That is as a result of, within the span of three days, each of the workforce’s kickers –rookie Jake Moody (proper quadriceps) and veteran Zane Gonzalez (proper calf) — suffered accidents to their kicking legs that forged doubt on their availability for Week 1.
These accidents come three days earlier than the Niners and the remainder of the league should reduce all the way down to the preliminary 53-man roster. It means San Francisco has some roster gymnastics to tug off whereas concurrently evaluating the place Moody and Gonzalez will probably be health-wise two weeks from now.
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“I’ve by no means been within the scenario earlier than the place we’ve two actually good kickers in our camp and, a couple of days earlier than the ultimate 53, each kickers aren’t obtainable presently,” coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned Saturday. “I feel these subsequent couple of days are actually essential simply to see how the rehabbing goes and issues like that and making an attempt to guess the place it may be two weeks from now after we kick off.”
After the Niners used a third-round draft choose — No. 99 general — on Moody this 12 months, he has been the presumptive starter. Gonzalez provides further depth and expertise after the Niners swapped conditional late-round picks within the 2025 NFL draft to amass him in March.
All through coaching camp, Moody has made nearly all of his area objective tries, together with a number of makes an attempt from 60 yards. However he has struggled some in preseason video games, lacking 40-yard and 58-yard area targets in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders and an additional level vs. the Denver Broncos.
Moody left Wednesday’s follow early, strolling to the locker room with a slight limp, and is taken into account “week-to-week,” Shanahan mentioned. That appeared to open the door for Gonzalez to get his alternative in opposition to the Los Angeles Chargers in Friday’s preseason finale.
Gonzalez was seen kicking throughout warm-ups and was in uniform to begin the sport, however it was punter Mitch Wishnowsky — not Gonzalez — doing the kicking when the Niners tried an additional level after scoring on their second possession.
Shanahan mentioned Saturday that Gonzalez has a strained calf that can price him “a couple of weeks,” which suggests he nearly definitely will not be obtainable for Week 1.
The Niners will work out a number of kickers this week, mentioned Shanahan, who did not rule out a possible reunion with Robbie Gould, who had been the workforce’s kicker since 2017 earlier than the workforce opted for Moody and Gonzalez within the offseason.
“We’re discussing every little thing and simply being prepared for any chance to maneuver this roster nonetheless, however we actually do not know what route we’re gonna go till time takes care of that,” Shanahan mentioned.
