SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It doesn’t sound as if the 49ers are going to cut ties with struggling kicker Jake Moody in the offseason. The way Kyle Shanahan spoke about him Thursday, they might not even give him training camp competition.
“I think he’s made of the right stuff just from a mental standpoint and everything,” Shanahan said during media availability. “And I think he has all the tools to be a great kicker in this league. He’s still working to find that, though.”
The San Francisco head coach sounded a lot different — more frustrated — on Sunday after Moody shanked a 41-yard field goal attempt against the Miami Dolphins.
“I mean, it wasn’t good out there missing that kick,” Shanahan said after the game when asked about his confidence level in Moody. “I don’t know exactly what happened on the snap and hold, but that’s one he’s got to make. That’s my big frustration.”
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Four days later, Shanahan seemed to have found more patience in the 2023 third-round pick. He noted that Moody started the season 13 of 14 on field goals before suffering a high-ankle sprain while attempting a tackle on a short-field kickoff in a Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Moody missed the next three games and has been 10 of 16 on field goals since returning.
“Since he’s come back, he hasn’t been as consistent, obviously,” Shanahan said. “But I think a lot of that probably has to do with that, just commonsense wise. And hopefully he can get to this offseason, heal up and find a stroke again and play at a high level. I think he will because he’s real talented.”
Asked if it’s valuable for a kicker to have competition in training camp, Shanahan said: “I don’t know. Maybe. I think you’ve got the wrong guy if you have to. You do that when you don’t think you’re going to have (the right) guy.”
A year ago, the 49ers’ high-powered offense scored plenty of touchdowns and didn’t require much of Moody. He missed just four of his 25 attempts. This season has been different. Through Week 16, Moody has missed seven field goal attempts; his 76.7 percentage ranks 30th among kickers with at least 12 attempts.
Moody’s misses:
- at Rams: 55 yards
- at Tampa Bay: 49, 50, 44 yards
- at Buffalo: 45, 55 yards
- at Miami: 41 yards
Moody stopped short of blaming his recent struggles on his ankle injury, but he did note it was the first time he’s been injured in the middle of a season.
Last year, he became the first kicker drafted in the first three rounds since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Roberto Aguayo in the second round in 2016. Aguayo flamed out so dramatically that he lasted just one season in Tampa Bay and spooked the rest of the NFL out of drafting a kicker early for several years.
The 49ers were confident Moody could break that spell. He kicked in high-pressure situations at Michigan and did so in bad weather. More than that, the 49ers liked his even temper, which has been on display while discussing his recent misses in front of a gaggle of television cameras.
He said his confidence hasn’t waned and said he’s gone through rough patches before.
“That’s the great thing about kicking,” he said. “You can be as talented as whoever and you can still struggle. And I feel this year I’ve struggled. The (confidence) doesn’t really waver. I feel like my entire life I’ve gone through struggles, I’ve gone though high points. The biggest thing is just stay consistent — not change anything, not change your mindset.”
He doesn’t appear to be overthinking the situation. Asked if adjusting to road situations has been a challenge — all seven field goal misses have been on the road this year — Moody shook his head.
“I actually didn’t know that. It’s pretty interesting,” he said. “No, I don’t think that necessarily has anything to do with it — being home or away — it’s just on the misses I’ve got to hit better kicks. There’s not any specific reason why I missed. I’ve just gotta make sure I’m dialed in on my form and stuff. Yeah, I’ll take a look at it. But I don’t think that’s really an issue.”
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Odds and ends
• Shanahan said he sat down with Dre Greenlaw and the two agreed the linebacker will not play in the 49ers’ remaining games. Greenlaw, who was coming back from a ruptured Achilles, suffered a calf strain early in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins.
Shanahan and teammates have said that one of the challenges of Greenlaw’s injury was making sure he didn’t push it too aggressively. As such, there was an element of relief that he’ll be on the sideline for the final two weeks and will get to concentrate on being healthy for the 2025 season.
“I mean, I’m always gonna be looking out for Dre because that’s like my little brother,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “I want what’s best for him. Obviously, we would have loved to have had him to finish the season off, especially myself. But at the end of the day, his health is what’s most important.”
When Warner, who’s played most of the season with an ankle injury, was asked if he might sit out a game, he shook his head.
“No, I could never,” he said. “For sure, I’m going to be playing.”
Asked why, Warner said: “There’s an integrity to the game, there’s an integrity to your team that if you are able and willing, you need to be out there with that 49er red on you.”
• Tackle Spencer Burford (calf) was among the 49ers who didn’t practice Thursday, raising the possibility that newcomer Charlie Heck will start Monday against the Detroit Lions. Heck, 28, is a 2020 fourth-round pick by the Houston Texans and played last year under offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, who runs an offense similar to the 49ers’. Heck, who’s been a swing tackle over his career, has 21 career starts.
Shanahan said the hope is that Burford will return to practice later in the week. The 49ers will experiment with a few configurations this week. One possibility if Burford can’t play:
- Left tackle: Colton McKivitz
- Left guard: Nick Zakelj
- Center: Jake Brendel
- Right guard: Dominick Puni
- Right tackle: Heck
- Swing tackle: Austen Pleasants.
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• The 49ers placed two offensive linemen, Trent Williams (ankle/heel) and Jaylon Moore (quadriceps), on injured reserve this week. A third, Aaron Banks (knee), won’t play in any of the last two games, either.
The 49ers also signed a center, Matt Hennessy, and re-signed tackle Sebastian Gutierrez to the practice squad. Hennessy got a two-year deal, suggesting the 49ers want him to be part of their offseason roster.
George Kittle takes in an offensive line drill. (Not pictured: Trent Williams, Aaron Banks, Jaylon Moore, Spencer Burford).
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— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows.bsky.social) December 26, 2024 at 5:01 PM
• Running back Isaac Guerendo, who missed the Dolphins game with foot and hamstring injuries, was limited in Thursday’s practice. So was safety Ji’Ayir Brown (ankle). Defensive end Robert Beal Jr. (ankle) did not practice.
Other defenders who have been on the injury report in recent weeks, such as Nick Bosa, Leonard Floyd and Malik Mustapha, were full go in practice.
• The team opened the practice window for rookie linebacker Tatum Bethune, who went on IR last month with a knee injury.
(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
