When the 49ers selected Jake Moody with a late third-round pick, it was with the hope that he would be the team’s long-term solution at kicker.
General manager John Lynch doubled down on that sentiment earlier this week. He said that he believes Moody would be the answer there long term and was hopeful he could be ready as he recovers from a quad injury.
The 49ers signed former Steelers and Chiefs kicker Matthew Wright to their practice squad in the meantime, in case Moody isn’t ready for the start of the season.
Kyle Shanahan provided a further update on Moody’s status with Tolbert and Copes on Thursday.
“[It’s] a lot better than it was a few days ago because he had that strain, he’s kicked here these last couple days and he’s looked good doing it,” Shanahan said. “We’re not pushing him too hard… I’m feeling optimistic he’ll be ready for week one, but if he’s not, we’re not going to jeopardize him. We’ll go with the practice squad kicker and make sure he’s ready for week two.”
Moody reportedly excelled in training camp, but looked shaky in his two preseason appearances. He missed both of his field goal attempts (from 40 and 58 yards) in the preseason opener, and made all three of his kicks (from 20, 43 and 32 yards) in the second game, but missed an extra point.
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