49ers already reaching out to kickers, but Robbie Gould is ‘unrealistic’

The San Francisco 49ers lost a tough game in Week 5 to the Arizona Cardinals in an NFC West battle. On top of that, the 49ers suffered a tough injury blow to kicker Jake Moody. After the loss, Moody said, “It rolled underneath me, spun a little farther than it should. Nothing’s broken thankfully.”

Still, the 49ers are searching for a replacement until Moody is able to return to the field. However, Robbie Gould, the previous kicker for the 49ers, is not a realistic option, per David Lombardi of The San Francisco Standard.

‘Moody’s predecessor, 41-year-old Robbie Gould, isn’t a realistic option. He announced his retirement in December and is now the head football coach at suburban Chicago’s Rolling Meadows High School — coincidentally the alma mater of former 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo.’

Anybody hoping for Gould to return to San Francisco can almost certainly put those hopes to bed. After retiring from the NFL, Gould is now a head coach in Chicago and doesn’t appear to be leaving to return to playing for the 49ers.

In the offseason, Gould also admitted to a “fractured” relationship with the 49ers.

“Could I have gone back to San Francisco? Probably not,” Gould said. “I think the relationship there from the executives to me was definitely fractured. Not in a poor way. I just think negotiations and how those things operated, they take a toll on your relationships.”

49ers searching for kicker after Moody’s injury 

After the loss to the Cardinals, Kyle Shanahan hid no feelings about the team’s need to search for a kicker, per Lombardi.

“With kickers, they’re almost independent contractors, so we’ll get them in as fast as possible and get the best guy we can,” Shanahan said. “I’m sure it’ll have to be for a few weeks.”

Shanahan did mention kickers would be coming in for a tryout, although he didn’t mention specific names.

After Moody left the game against the Cardinals, it was punter Mitch Wishnowsky who took over, and he nailed a 26-yard field goal at the end of the first half to extend the 49ers lead to 23-10. After that, they would fail to score again, so Wishnowsky didn’t get another chance to kick.

It will be worth monitoring to see who the 49ers bring in to replace Moody until he recovers from his injury.